Fibre Excellence faces liquidation as leaders call for temporary nationalization

Fibre Excellence, France’s last remaining pulp factory, faces potential liquidation as its Saint-Gaudens site struggles through judicial reorganization. The company has been in difficulty since April following the withdrawal of its Indonesian shareholder, Jackson Wijaya.

To prevent the loss of 270 jobs and preserve industrial sovereignty, Carole Delga, President of the Occitanie region, has proposed a plan involving a €90 million investment. This includes a request for the French state to temporarily nationalize the company with a €15 million contribution to provide the necessary time to finalize a deal with a private industrial partner. While regional leaders, socialist deputies, and labor unions like the CGT are calling for state intervention, the Minister of Industry, Sébastien Martin, has rejected the proposal for temporary nationalization.

Simultaneously, the company’s Tarascon site is facing a security crisis. Following its liquidation in July, the prefecture has ordered urgent measures to secure the facility after a toxic chemical spill and the partial shutdown of fire defense systems, posing risks to the environment and local safety.