The health crisis will be followed by an economic one, and the economic by the social. There is much talk about it, and then it happens. This Wednesday, February 3, a reorganization plan was presented to the social partners: cement production activity is expected to cease in early 2022. At the Contes site, 65 employees produce 400,000 tons of cement each year.
Why this decision? A spokesperson for Lafarge explains it this way: “facing the decline in construction over several years and to meet the challenges of the new environmental regulations in construction,” “we must transform our factories, and this requires significant investments.”
So, we rationalize. And … there you have it, “a human, economic, and industrial tragedy,” protests the communist mayor of the town, Francis Tujague, echoed by deputy Alexandra Valette-Ardisson (LREM) and senator Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, who are calling for public authorities’ intervention.
The Lafarge group, which merged with the Swiss company Holcim in 2015 and thus became the world leader in construction materials and solutions, has agreed to close the cement manufacturing plant in Contes near Nice. No fewer than 65 direct jobs are at risk, nearly 300 indirectly.
The Lafarge cement plant has been located in the town of Contes in the Alpes-Maritimes for 115 years, across various sites. This major company in the Paillon valley consists of several sites on each side of the road. Aggregates and cement are produced on 25 hectares of limestone quarry. Only the cement activity is affected by the announced reorganization.
