Premier Ministre Fouquet
STEEL POLICY SHIFTING
Office of the Prime Minister, August 16, 4996: Prime Minister Antoine Fouquet met today with Ministers and staff of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Foreign Office concerning importing steel. The Prime Minister issued the following statement at its conclusion.
Our heavy manufacturing and construction firms have been importing steel from a wide variety of market sources to meet their consumption needs. The government has been diligently trying to find a steel exporter able and willing to sell us enough steel in bulk so that all our domestic needs could be met in an orderly way. This effort has been a frustrating and complete failure.
What will be tried instead is four of our major manufacturing firms will be forming a corporation owned by the four of them, South Seleyan Metals (SSM), to do three things. First, import large quantities of scrap iron and iron ore. Second establish a steel manufacturing plant using imported iron. And third, continue to import processed steel for the four owners of SSM as necessary.
The four manufacturers forming the joint venture are Arsenal Preud’homme, ERAK, Auto Seleya and Kanjor Aeronautics. To the extent liquid assets are necessary for start up operations, the Ministry of Trade and Industry will provide loan funds through the Central Bank. Lucas, Janvier and Maigret are the attorneys providing loan closing instructions and documentation.
CLAIRON PICARD has learned the most likely site for the import operation and steel plant are Hautemps-sur Mer in Numineux Region. Further the steel manufacturing is planned to use electric arc furnaces powered by clean energy to reduce the carbon emissions that occur when the carbon percentage present in the iron ore and scrap iron is reduced and impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, sulfur and phosphorus are removed and depending on the type and grade of steel desired, certain amounts of manganese, nickel, vanadium and chromium are added to the liquid iron alloy.