This is a new shock in the industrial basin: the company Arjemo has announced the start of a judicial reorganization procedure. It shelters itself from its creditors under the protection of the company court. The information has not yet really filtered through on the economic situation: the workers are summoned by the management to learn more, this Tuesday at the start of the afternoon.
But this new threat to jobs is anything but a surprise. The Arjemo company was created with money from the Walloon region, to “outsource” the packaging and shipping activities of the ArcelorMittal group, which incidentally still holds half of the capital. But over time and restructuring, it was mainly on behalf of LibertySteel that the people at Arjemo worked: it ended up representing half of the order book. And as LibertySteel’s lines have been shut down since the fall, financial health has rapidly deteriorated.
There are still about thirty people in activity, spread over five sites, but many more unemployed or sick.
