Infrabel to purchase €200 million worth of “green rails” from Saarstahl plant in Moselle, CEAT receivership verdict postponed, Strasbourg’s cross-border heat project receives EU funding, Business creations up by half with BGE Franche-Comté support, Alsatian graphene start-up Blackleaf plans factory, Adrienne Simon-Krzakala appointed director of Ademe Bourgogne–Franche-Comté, Geoffroy Secula elected President of CPME Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

Infrabel is going to buy €200 million worth of green rails from the Saarstahl factory in Hayange, in Moselle. CEAT in receivership in Dijon-Longvic: postponement of the verdict to July 3. The cross-border heat of Strasbourg receives European money. Business creations up by half in 2022 with the support of BGE Franche-Comté. The Alsatian graphene start-up Blackleaf is planning a factory. Adrienne Simon-Krzakala, new director of Ademe Bourgogne–Franche-Comté. Geoffroy Secula, president of the CPME Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

• Infrabel is to buy €200 million worth of green rails from the Saarstahl plant in Hayange, Moselle

The manager of the Belgian railway network Infrabel announced on 17 May the signing of a contract with Saarstahl with a view to supplying « rails verts » at the German steelmaker’s Hayange (Moselle) plant. The Belgian group will have 2,800 km of rails delivered over the next four years, as part of a contract worth €200 million. Infrabel mentions, in a press release, a carbon impact 70% lower than standard products. Indeed, the rails delivered by Hayange, where 430 people work, are rolled from steel bars made not by blast furnaces fueled by iron ore and coke, but by electric furnaces filled with scrap metal recycled from the Ascoval steelworks in Saint-Saulve (Nord), also owned by SHS (Stahl Holding Saar), Saarstahl’s parent company.

For Benoît Gilson, Chairman of Infrabel, “Saarstahl’s example demonstrates that the market is moving towards innovative, more sustainable and more competitive solutions. Infrabel will further integrate them into its purchasing policy. » In 2022, 262,000 tonnes of rails were delivered by Hayange, 86% of which “green”i.e. a saving of 415,000 tonnes of CO₂. The SHS group of 14,000 people (annual turnover of €7 billion) took over the Saint-Saulve and Hayange sites in August 2021. P. Bohlinger

• CEAT in receivership in Dijon-Longvic: postponement of the verdict to July 3

The wait continues for the 250 employees of the Electronics Center for Audiovisual & Transmissions (CEAT) in Longvic (Côte-d’Or): on June 1, the Dijon commercial court postponed its decision on July 3 the fate of the company, which was placed in receivership on January 12. The one-month deadline maintains a slim hope for the specialist in the repair of electronic equipment, smartphone in mind. Negotiations are continuing with Samsung, the company’s main contractor, which for a time stopped supplying it with parts and mobile phones. The South Korean giant has resumed deliveries following the previous hearing on May 12. A new consultation is planned with CEAT Electronique on June 9th. The Longvic company became, in the 2000s, the only Samsung repair center for France and certain European countries. In 2018, it achieved a turnover of €81.5 million, which has since collapsed, standing at €28.3 million in 2020. The causes are the slowdown in the market for smartphone, costly diversifications into Chinese brands and lower repair volumes for Samsung. A.Morel

• Strasbourg’s cross-border heat receives European money

Via the Upper Rhine Interreg program for cross-border cooperation, the European Union will allocate a grant of €2.1 million to the heating network project across the Rhine, between Strasbourg and its neighboring German municipality, Kehl. This initiative has two original features: on the one hand, using heat ” fatale (surplus from the process) of an industrial company, the Badische Stahlwerke (BSW) steelworks, on the other hand and above all, build a pipeline for this energy under the Rhine along a length of 4.5 km, since the transmitter is located on the other bank of the river, in Kehl. The projections relate to the heating, of this kind, of 7,000 housing units in Strasbourg initially thanks to the production of 70 gigawatt hours/year. European aid represents approximately 8% of the amount of €25.5 million for this project led by a semi-public company to French and German shareholders, its initiators and co-financiers (in addition to Ademe and its German counterpart Dena ): Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, Grand Est region, Bank of Territories, City of Kehl, Land of Baden-Württemberg. The appointment in June of a delegated contracting authority should make it possible to refine the financial estimate, define a precise route and move towards the objective of commissioning at the end of 2026. Mr. Walnut

• Business creations up by half in 2022 with the support of BGE Franche-Comté

A total of 870 companies were helped in 2022 by BGE Franche-Comté, representing the cumulative creation of 921 jobs. At the beginning of this week, the regional association supporting project leaders drew up this report, synonymous with growth: + 43% of business creations in number compared to 2021, “but also twice as many entrepreneurs already established (665) who came to be accompanied or trained to acquire new skills and thus better manage their business”, she points out. BGE Franche-Comté thus considers itself confirmed in its vocation of “support network that intervenes throughout the life of an entrepreneur. » She also recalls her desire to help “all profiles”on the assumption that “Entrepreneurship is about contexts, not archetypes. » Mr. Walnut

The Alsatian graphene start-up Blackleaf is planning a factory

The young company Blackleaf from Illkirch near Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) is the winner of the national call for projects “First Factory”, announced the prefecture of the Grand Est region in mid-May. It is one of the 13 start-ups selected in France. It thus intends to set up a factory to bring its production of graphene resulting from its research in Illkirch to a more industrial scale. “Ultimately, this project will create 40 jobs”, indicates the prefecture. A material derived from graphite, and therefore carbon, graphene is recognized as an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. It has a bright future or is already established in the battery or chemical sectors.. The realization of the Blackleaf project must provide a local source of supply to industries in France and Europe, in response to the issue of sovereignty over strategic materials. Mr Walnut

Movements

• Adrienne Simon-Krzakala, new director of Ademe Bourgogne–Franche-Comté

Adrienne Simon-Krzakala, senior engineer in chief, takes over the management of Ademe Bourgogne–Franche-Comté. The young woman took office at the beginning of May within the regional agency, the intervention budget of which doubled in 2022, to 110 million euros. Native of Châtillon-sur-Seine, in Côte d’Or, she intends to emphasize the adaptation of the regional arboricultural sector to climate change. Industry is also a priority with a “double challenge of decarbonization and relocation”she believes.

In the Bourgogne–Franche-Comté region, Ademe supported 320 business projects last year. Adrienne Simon-Krzakala has spent her career in local authorities, after a first experience as a works supervisor for Bouygues, in Nancy. She was director of construction for the Moselle department, head of the building renovation and maintenance department for Dijon Métropole, where she also served as general manager of technical services. Most recently, she was deputy general manager at Clermont Auvergne Métropole. A. Morel

• Geoffroy Secula, President of the CPME Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

President of the CPME of Côte-d’Or, Geoffroy Secula was elected president of the SME confederation for the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, May 25. The leader of the Bourgogne Recyclage group succeeds Louis Deroin, who had held the position for three years. In the wake of his predecessor, he wishes to strengthen the place of CPME BFC in the territories and develop the relationships forged, for example with the federation of young economic chambers, the social protection group Vyv or the rectorate.

The regional confederation, which has 2,000 direct members, will also continue to support the deployment in the region, by the end of 2024, of the BFC approved prevention group, commonly called the ” Blue helmet “ for its vocation of supporting companies and their leaders in difficulty. Mr. Walnut