The company, which is due to double its metal sorting capacity from 3,000 to 6,000 tonnes by early 2025, has not revised its development plan. But it has postponed some of its investment projects until October, in order to understand what the economic choices of the next government will look like.Not on significant investments. For example, we worked with an ergonomist to add improvements to our future factory: these are the orders for the materials that are being postponed.”explains Clarisse Maillet, who has not called into question six planned recruitments, on the contrary.
As the country discovers an unprecedented political configuration – with a government in charge of handling current affairs for an indefinite period and a divided and majority-less National Assembly – Aérométal is not the only one asking questions. According to a survey conducted between July 11 and 17 by Meti, the organization representing mid-sized companies, among 1,500 mid-sized companies, six out of ten managers say they have put at least some of their investment projects on hold for the coming months and 12% say they have already cancelled some of them. Only 6% of mid-sized companies have definitely maintained their projects.
“These are not mass cancellations at the moment, but postponements. But this situation should not last too long,” warns Frédéric Coirier, co-president of Meti.Businesses need political clarity quickly. The left has been able to adopt pragmatic policies in the past. What stresses leaders are extreme positions.”underlines the CEO of the fireplace manufacturer Poujoulat, which ranks itself among the groups having “sorted out the projects a bit, without canceling them” and reduced the sails this summer on the interim.
More complicated fundraising
If the bosses do not have many illusions, in the short term, about the reduction of production taxes, the increase in the minimum wage to 1600 euros defended by the New Popular Front or the return of the wealth tax act as a scarecrow. “The minimum wage of 1600 euros is a lack of economic vision”says Emmanuel Vasseneix, the president of LSDH, a company with 2,000 employees that packages milk and drinks. Even if manufacturers recognize that they are not the first to be affected, an increase in the minimum wage would require an upward reassessment of salary scales.
This excitement is also affecting investors. “We have American shareholders. We have a lot of difficulty explaining to them what the policies will be in the coming months,” relates Guillaume de Goys, CEO of Aluminium Dunkerque, who has not yet planned to freeze his hiring or significantly reduce investments in his Gravelines plant, which employs nearly 660 people. In a less favorable context for fundraising for months, as the EY barometer on venture capital in the first half of the year points out, concerns are holding back start-ups in their quest for financing. Like Daan tech, which produces the Bob mini dishwasher in France and hoped to complete its funding round in the summer. “We have the feeling that political instability has suspended decisions. We had been promised tickets worth 100,000 euros which were not validated, whereas we felt that people were very excited before the dissolution.”assures Antoine Fichet, the founder and president of Daan tech. Now, he is aiming for the end of 2024, or even the beginning of 2025 to finalize his financing. With the domino effect of postponing hiring and investments.
Some people slip through the cracks.At present, we do not see a big difference between before and after the dissolution.”qualifies Antoine Meffre, the founder of Eco-tech Ceram, who plans to raise at least 20 million euros to develop his fatal heat recovery system. “Our investment bank warned us that the political context could drag things out a bit. But we are used to things not happening quickly.”he still philosophizes.
Grant files on standby
While waiting for a new Prime Minister to be appointed, all political decisions are on hold, such as business support counters. In Loiret, Créawatt was a candidate for a grant from the France 2030 plan, as part of a call for projects operated by Ademe, to industrialize photovoltaic panels in France. Submitted before a committee in July, the file “is on standby, because these are ministerial credits. But we are hopeful of having more visibility by September”summarizes its general manager Laurent Mimaud, who already owns a site in Amilly in Loiret. If the uncertainty persists, he intends to continue his factory project without public support, “but this will delay it and give time for the competition to organize itself”In the longer term, a revision of the priorities of France 2030 worries some industrialists. “The envelopes can be stopped in the event of a change of government”inquired Antoine Fichet, the boss of Daan tech, who hoped to take advantage of it to finance part of his first factory.
The decisive return to school to lift the fog
As long as the power vacuum does not last too long, the concerns and paralysis will remain limited.We can continue to work with the administration and Ademe on current issues“, says Guillaume de Goys of Aluminium Dunkerque. The start of the school year is the real test. “We are of course paying attention to the current situation. But it is too early to know what will happen.”considers Christophe Chambet, president of the precision machining group Pracartis, whose factory employs 200 people in the Arve Valley, in Haute-Savoie.
Fortunately, this political uncertainty is occurring during a quiet period. “In our country, nothing much happens between July 14 and August 15.”reassures Sébastien Martin, the president of Intercommunautés de France et du Grand Chalon, who acknowledges having been approached by industrialists in his territory already faced with postponed orders. An observation shared by Yann Jaubert, whose company Alfi technologies produces industrial machines in Maine-et-Loire, for whom “If there are to be any postponements from our customers, it will be in September instead.”.
“This crisis seems much less serious than Covid”
If a government emerges on this horizon, the wait-and-see attitude could dissipate quickly. Provided that the supply policy is not completely called into question. Because politics alone does not explain the caution of industrialists. At LSDH, the main problem at the moment is more meteorological.What bothers us is rather the weakness of consumption.“, underlines Emmanuel Vasseneix, while sales of fruit juices are suffering from a cool summer. Which does not prevent him from being irritated by the “ambient chaos”. Sylvie Casenave-Péré, the president of the cardboard SME Posson packaging, and unsuccessful candidate in the last legislative elections, confirms that“Between Covid, the energy crisis, the supply crisis, we are used to the unexpected. This political crisis seems much less serious to us». There is therefore no reason to deviate from its investment plans in decarbonization.
Even a slowdown in the establishment of future factories is not yet assured. After a sluggish month of May, the number of projects identified in June by the Ancoris firm, which supports companies’ establishment projects very early on, has returned to the same level as in the same period last year. “In the first two weeks of July, we have around thirty projects, which compares with around fifty projects for the whole month of July 2023. Business is going well,” assures Guillaume Gady, its director. He also feels that business leaders have become accustomed to uncertainty.
Solène Davesne, with Marion Garreau, Anne-Sophie Bellaiche and Nathan Mann
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
