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Who killed the Florange blast furnaces? The hippies Who killed the Florange blast furnaces? The hippies
(35 minutes later)
The capitalists want to close down a historical steel plant, the French government is making nationalisation noises, and the unions are on the warpath: all because the hippies have won. I refer to the case of ArcelorMittal, owned by the richest resident of England, the steel plant at Florange in Lorraine and the French minister, Arnaud Montebourg. As the Guardian reports:The capitalists want to close down a historical steel plant, the French government is making nationalisation noises, and the unions are on the warpath: all because the hippies have won. I refer to the case of ArcelorMittal, owned by the richest resident of England, the steel plant at Florange in Lorraine and the French minister, Arnaud Montebourg. As the Guardian reports:
France's industry minister has accused the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, of "lying" and urged it to leave the country. In an extraordinary attack, Montebourg also threatened the company with temporary nationalisation. "We no longer want Mittal in France because they don't respect France," the minister said in an interview with the financial newspaper, Les Echos.
France's industry minister has accused the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, of "lying" and urged it to leave the country. In an extraordinary attack, Montebourg also threatened the company with temporary nationalisation. "We no longer want Mittal in France because they don't respect France," the minister said in an interview with the financial newspaper, Les Echos.
The plant needs to be closed because we all do more recycling now, just as we have been urged to do by the hippies for decades.The plant needs to be closed because we all do more recycling now, just as we have been urged to do by the hippies for decades.
My apologies but I will make a small technical detour into the details of iron- and steel-making. There are two parts to the process. Making the iron and steel from iron ore, coke and limestone. Then taking the large resulting ingots and turning them into something useful: in this case, sheet steel for the car industry. For the first we use a blast furnace, the second a rolling mill. There is no possible technological substitution for a rolling mill but there is for a blast furnace. We could, instead of making "virgin" iron, recycle old scrap in an electric arc furnace to make our ingots to feed our rolling mill.My apologies but I will make a small technical detour into the details of iron- and steel-making. There are two parts to the process. Making the iron and steel from iron ore, coke and limestone. Then taking the large resulting ingots and turning them into something useful: in this case, sheet steel for the car industry. For the first we use a blast furnace, the second a rolling mill. There is no possible technological substitution for a rolling mill but there is for a blast furnace. We could, instead of making "virgin" iron, recycle old scrap in an electric arc furnace to make our ingots to feed our rolling mill.
Ever since Teddy Goldsmith's book Blueprint for Survival we've been told we must move the metals industry from a "flow" system into a "stock" one. Instead of continually digging up more ore to make new metals, we should instead think of how much we already have above ground, of ways to recycle what we have, as environmentalists have been telling us in the decades since that publication.Ever since Teddy Goldsmith's book Blueprint for Survival we've been told we must move the metals industry from a "flow" system into a "stock" one. Instead of continually digging up more ore to make new metals, we should instead think of how much we already have above ground, of ways to recycle what we have, as environmentalists have been telling us in the decades since that publication.
In the steel industry the biggest problem has always been that we've had scrap metal dealers for millennia but no one could quite make auto steel out of that scrap. We only knew how to make that out of virgin steel. Then a US company, Nucor, cracked that problem a couple of decades back and what with the slowness of the industry, patents and trade secrets, the technique is only now fanning out across the industry.In the steel industry the biggest problem has always been that we've had scrap metal dealers for millennia but no one could quite make auto steel out of that scrap. We only knew how to make that out of virgin steel. Then a US company, Nucor, cracked that problem a couple of decades back and what with the slowness of the industry, patents and trade secrets, the technique is only now fanning out across the industry.
This is what is killing the Florange plant. That plant comes in two parts: there's a rolling mill making auto steel for the German car industry. No one wants to close that: not Arcelor, not any of the companies circling if there is a "temporary nationalisation". Because we've no substitute for a rolling mill in making auto steel.This is what is killing the Florange plant. That plant comes in two parts: there's a rolling mill making auto steel for the German car industry. No one wants to close that: not Arcelor, not any of the companies circling if there is a "temporary nationalisation". Because we've no substitute for a rolling mill in making auto steel.
However, no one wants the two blast furnaces there which make up the other part of the plant, as we can now make our ingots of steel out of scrap. It's a standard assumption in the metals world that no one will ever again build a new blast furnace in the rich, industrialised countries. Not only do we not need them, we don't need all the ones we've already got.However, no one wants the two blast furnaces there which make up the other part of the plant, as we can now make our ingots of steel out of scrap. It's a standard assumption in the metals world that no one will ever again build a new blast furnace in the rich, industrialised countries. Not only do we not need them, we don't need all the ones we've already got.
So, as I say, that half of the Florange plant is closing because the hippies have won – as they should indeed have done on this one particular point.So, as I say, that half of the Florange plant is closing because the hippies have won – as they should indeed have done on this one particular point.