French Steel Research Articles

La sidérurgie française de 1973 à nos jours. Dégénérescence et transformation

The French steel industry since 1973. Degeneration and transformation, Philippe Mioche. The author relates the stages of the decline of the French steel industry since 1973. The fall in production and employ- ment and the closing of many industrial sites were matched by a technological and social conversion leading to the assurance that a new steel industry has a future in France.

The Schuman Plan and French Steel Industry 1950-52, The Creation of the European Coal and Steel Community

The Schuman Plan and French Steel Industry 1950-52, The Creation of the European Coal and Steel Community

The Politics of Economic Adjustment: Pluralism, Corporatism, and Privatization

Introduction Reorganizing Interest Representation: A Political Analysis of Privatization in Britain The Politics of Industrial Policy in the United States The Industrial Policy Controversy in West Germany: Organized Adjustment and the Emergence of Meso-Corporatism Neoliberalism and the Battle over Working-Time Reduction in West Germany Democracy at the Margins: The International System and Policy Change in France Industrial Adjustment in the French Steel Industry Deindustrialization, Economic Performance, and Industrial Policy: British and American Theories Applied to Italy Democracy and Economic Adjustment: A Comparative Analysis of Political Change Selected Bibliography Index

Un tournant dans l'histoire technique de la sidérurgie : la création de l'Irsid. Compétition et collaboration entre l'Etat et l'industrie

Abstract There were no profesionnal center of technological researches in the French steel industry before World War two. This central laboratory («l'Irsid : Institut de la recherche sidérurgique») was imagined by Jean Rist in 1943 and created by Henri Malcor in 1946. This is a business initiative. Mining enginers from National School of Mining, those specializing in high grade steel in particular, played a major part in the creation. But the action of the steel trade organisation during the war («Comité d'organisation») was also encouraged by the state rival actions : by the Center of National Scientific Research, then the National School of Mining. A law of 1943 helped to create the «Irsid» and a tax regulation of 1945 gave it regular resources. The Monnet Plan also backed up the new Institute. L'Irsid will change the attitudes toward technical secret, the conditions of innovation in the French steel industry. It will also help to increase the influence of mining engineers into the profession.

Les « maîtres de forges » en quête de transparence. archives de la sidérurgie et histoire économique

The " steel mill masters " search for transparence. Steel works archives and economic history, Philippe Mioche. The French Steel Manufactures' association has just deposited its papers at the National Archives. After a long tradition of secrecy, the new " steel mill masters " have embarked on a policy of communication and transparence. This creates an occasion for historians to analyze an industrial branch at the center of modernization followed by the general restructuration crisis of the French economy. An occasion also for the profession to correct its negative image in public opinion for more than a decade.

Comment and Debate French Steel and the Metal-Working Industries: A Contribution to Debate on Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century France

This article addresses recent revisionist literature concerning nineteenth-century French economic history, and in particular Cameron’s and Freedeman’s “French Economic Growth; a Radical Revision” (1983, see also Roehl, 1976 and O’Brien and Keyder, 1978 and the critical response of Locke, 1981 and Crafts, 1984). It questions the latter’s criteria for the perception of economic development or retardation and challenges revisionist affirmations concerning the role of entrepreneurial attitudes in the achievement of industrialization in France. The problems raised by the revisionist interpretation appear clearly with respect to the history of the French steel industry. The principal steel producers’ dynamism and technically progressive attitudes, which the authors cite to demonstrate the irrelevance of sociocultural hypotheses concerning French industrial retardation, represented only one component of the ferrous industrial scene. Sociocultural factors beyond the steel firms’ control, together with poor financial conditions and the economic geography of France outweighed entrepreneurial dynamism as determinants of the industry’s overall performance in the later nineteenth century, chiefly by their inhibiting effect on per capita steel consumption.

French Steel and the Metal-Working Industries: A Contribution to Debate on Economic Development in Nineteenth-Century France

ing nineteenth-century economic history, and in particular Cameron's and Freedeman's French Economic Growth; a Radical Revision (1983, see also Roehl, 1976 and O'Brien and Keyder, 1978 and the critical response of Locke, 1981 and Crafts, 1984). It questions the latter's criteria for the perception of economic development or retardation and challenges revisionist affirmations concerning the role of entrepreneurial attitudes in the achievement of industrialization in France. The problems raised by the revisionist interpretation appear clearly with respect to the history of the steel industry. The principal steel producers' dynamism and technically progressive attitudes, which the authors cite to demonstrate the irrelevance of sociocultural hypotheses concerning industrial retardation, represented only one component of the ferrous industrial scene. Sociocultural factors beyond the steel firms' control, together with poor financial conditions and the economic geography of France outweighed entrepreneurial dynamism as determinants of the industry's overall performance in the later nineteenth century, chiefly by their inhibiting effect on per capita steel consumption.

Chômage et licenciements. La crise de la Lorraine sidérurgique : Longwy, 1978-1980

Le 10 décembre 1978, la direction de Sacilor confirmait officiellement que les suppressions d'emploi concerneraient 8 500 postes de travail. Le 12 décembre, la direction du groupement Usinor annonçait à son tour 12 500 suppressions d'emploi. Le 14 décembre, l'Union Nationale de la Métallurgie envisageait une baisse des actifs de 14 400 personnes dans le bassin sidérurgique de Longwy. Dans le pays haut lorrain, c'était la confirmation officielle de la catastrophe que chacun redoutait tout en ne voulant pas toujours la reconnaître comme probable : il semble que, durant quelques jours, des attitudes d'évitement et de dénégation aient dominé.

Switzerland: Supreme Court Opinion in the Matter of El Nasr Export Import & Co. v. Anglo French Steel Corporation S.A. (Jurisdiction of Arbitration Tribunal; Application for Stay of Arbitral Proceedings)

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Resolving the Paradox of the Monnet Plan: National and International Planning in French Reconstruction

This article is an analysis of the origins of the first French plan for reconstructing and modernizing the economy, usually referred to in the literature as the Monnet Plan. The plan was one of national reconstruction to prepare the French economy for participation in the open international economy envisaged at Bretton Woods in I944. The plan has been studied exclusively in terms of its domestic economic objectives, yet by drawing upon a wide range of hitherto unused archival material it is clear that the plan also had very definite foreign economic objectives.1 Indeed, through the plan the French government hoped to shape the international environment, or more specifically the European environment in accordance with its political and economic objectives. These were to reconstruct and modernize French heavy industry in order to increase its strength relative to that of Germany. In fact, Jean Monnet succeeded in winning widespread support for his plan within the French Administration in I946 support which had been lacking for all previous plans owing to the backing and initial suggestion of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereafter referred to as the Quai d'Orsay). The plan was to demonstrate in economic terms the French economy's dependence on the resources of the Ruhr in order to win Allied acceptance of French proposals to establish international control of the Ruhr. Vital imports of coal, coking coal, and coke oven coke, on which the French economy depended, were to strengthen the French steel industry, and in particular to enable French goods to replace those of Germany in Germany and in markets formerly supplied by Germany. It was only when these foreign policy imperatives were superimposed on domestic economic imperatives that a single plan could be agreed upon and elaborated.

Resolving the Paradox of the Monnet Plan: National and International Planning in French Reconstruction

This article is an analysis of the origins of the first French plan for reconstructing and modernizing the economy, usually referred to in the literature as the Monnet Plan. The plan was one of national reconstruction to prepare the French economy for participation in the open international economy envisaged at Bretton Woods in I944. The plan has been studied exclusively in terms of its domestic economic objectives, yet by drawing upon a wide range of hitherto unused archival material it is clear that the plan also had very definite foreign economic objectives.1 Indeed, through the plan the French government hoped to shape the international environment, or more specifically the European environment in accordance with its political and economic objectives. These were to reconstruct and modernize French heavy industry in order to increase its strength relative to that of Germany. In fact, Jean Monnet succeeded in winning widespread support for his plan within the French Administration in I946 support which had been lacking for all previous plans owing to the backing and initial suggestion of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (hereafter referred to as the Quai d'Orsay). The plan was to demonstrate in economic terms the French economy's dependence on the resources of the Ruhr in order to win Allied acceptance of French proposals to establish international control of the Ruhr. Vital imports of coal, coking coal, and coke oven coke, on which the French economy depended, were to strengthen the French steel industry, and in particular to enable French goods to replace those of Germany in Germany and in markets formerly supplied by Germany. It was only when these foreign policy imperatives were superimposed on domestic economic imperatives that a single plan could be agreed upon and elaborated.

Theory of dislocations: pre-war nucleation, post-war crystallization and present growth

Crussard ,Charles. Born Saint-Etienne, France, 1916. Studied at Nancy and Paris. Graduated at Ecole Poly technique and des Mines de Paris. es-Sciences in 1963. Founded in 1943 the Metallurgical Research Centre of the School of Mines, Paris, where he was first Director until 1952. Professor of Metallurgy at the same School 1948-52. From 1952 to 1963 at I.R .S.I.D . ( Institute of French Steel Industry). From 1963 Scientific Director of Pechiney and Pechiney Ugine Kuhlmann. Author of 180 papers on metallurgy and materials. Past President of Societe Frangaise de Metallurgie and of International Deep Drawing Research Group. Fellow of American Society for Metals. Corresponding Member of National Acedemy of Engineering. Commander of Order of Merit ( France).

Crise et restructuration de la sidérurgie française

Crisis and restructuration in the French steel industry. — The crisis in the French steel industry has been especially serious since 1974. This branch is very vulnerable and is adapting with difficulty to the brutal change in operating conditions. Economic, social and regional aspects of the crisis are analysed at the level of the Usinor group, a level to which have been defined and applied technical, economic and social measures for a restructuration which modifies profoundly both the spatial organisation of the branch on the national scale, and the organisation of space through the branch on the local and regional scale. If the international economic situation does not undergo any new deterioration, the industrial branch will operate no doubt in 1981 under "normal economic conditions", but the crisis will continue in the old steel plants, of which all the structures have been profoundly shaken and for which the measures to create employment assisted by the "Fonds Spécial d'Adaptation Industrielle" (Special Fund for Industrial Adaptation) will not suffice; this latter is the latest instrument of industrial policy and planning to have been set up in France.

The Use Of The Texture Analyser To Study Sinter Structure: Application To The Morphology Of Calcium Ferrites Encountered In Basic Sinters Of Rich Iron Ores

SUMMARYQuantitative image analysis applied to iron ore sinters gives complementary information to chemical analysis such as quantitative mineralogical analysis, and also quantitative geometric properties of crystals and of porous networks (size distribution, repartition). Spatial disposition of sinter components produced during crystallization builds different textures which are well known to mineralogists. The types of textures encountered can be related to initial composition, cooling conditions and to physical properties of the sinter (mechanical strength, reducibility). In order to estimate the relative importance of each texture in a sinter, measurements made using a pattern recognition procedure are required.Algorithms for automatic pattern recognition were established for calcium ferrites texture encountered in rich iron ore basic sinters. They depend on a specific treatment of morphological parameters estimated inside fields of measurement of the texture analyser. Furthermore, mathematical models of multicomponent structures based on mathematical morphology, are used for different calcium ferrites textures. The parameters of these models are estimated from experimental measurements made with a texture analyser.The present study is a part of a research programme made by IRSID (Institute of Research of French Steel Industry) on the structure of iron ore sinters in order to explain variations of their physical properties related to their behaviour in the blast furnace.

Some Aspects of Cost-Push Inflation in the French Steel Industry

Some Aspects of Cost-Push Inflation in the French Steel Industry

European Communities

The press reported that the European Parliamentary Assembly, meeting on March 28–April 1, 1960, began its session with the election of Prof. Hans Furler, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the West German Bundestag, to the presidency, succeeding Robert Schuman of France. The voting reflected party alignment that ignored the nationalities of the members, Dr. Furler, candidate of the Democratic Christian group, having defeated Gaetano Martino of Italy, candidate of the Liberal group. The Socialists, the third party in the Parliament, had not presented a candidate. Prior to a debate on economic policy, Dr. Furler took the rostrum to thank Mr. Schuman for his efforts on behalf of the European Communities, as it was he who had started the six-nation federation with his proposal for the combination of French and West German coal and steel production. Dr. Furler then asked the Parliament to establish the common market at a faster pace than that specified in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which had brought the market into existence. In this he was aided by Walter Hallstein, president of the Administrative Commission of the European Economic Community (EEC), who explained the proposals for acceleration of the common market and urged their support as a defense against any Soviet trade war against the West. The proposals centered around a 30-percent reduction in the internal customs of the six member states by July 1, 1960, as well as a start toward the establishment of a common exterior tariff. The members had reservations against the plan, but expressed general support for it in a resolution which received near-unanimous approval (the exceptions being one negative vote and two abstentions).

The ‘European Policy’ of France

T tHE formation of the United States of Europe is an ancient ideal that in the last four centuries has been more actively followed up in France than in any other country. It is curious to note that the first of these attempts, such as the 'Grand Design' of Henry IV or the project presented to Louis XV by the Abbe St Pierre, have some of the same features of the most recent plans put forth by the French Government. These illustrious pioneers already foresaw the European Assembly, a common defence with a single General Staff, a common budget financed by contributions from all the States to meet the expenditures of the great alliance, and a court of arbitration. Napoleon himself recognized in his will that he was not able 'to subdue Europe by violence'. He added, 'Today we have to convince her [Europe] by ideas' and he counselled his heir to 'unite Europe by indissoluble federal ties'. The same thought continued to haunt the French mind in the nineteenth century. It formed the basis between the two world wars of the famous memorandum on the Organization System of a European Federal Union drawn up by Aristide Briand, then France's Minister of Foreign Affairs. However, the most recent efforts of the French Government-the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Defence Community-differ in one essential point from all previous attempts in the same direction: for the first time France has suggested that a certain amount of sovereignty be transferred to a supra-national authority, the high authority or commissariat. A re-reading of what Briand wrote in his Despatch to His Majesty's Government, enclosing his I930 Memorandum, brings out the importance and the audacity of our propositions: ... in no case and in no degree may the formation of the federal union desired by the European Governments affect in any way any of the sovereign rights of the States which are members of such an association. It is on the plane of absolute sovereignty and of entire political independence that the understanding between European nations must be brought about.1 The French Memorandum of I930 was never followed up, but if it had been, it probably would not have led to a real European federation, because in the recommended institutions, each State would have kept all of its sovereign rights which could have been used to veto any decision and thus paralyse the system. It is by eliminating the rule of unanimity in the European councils and in confiding certain well-defined responsibilities to a higher organism that the French Government has really made an innovation. 1 London, H.M.S.O., Cmd. 3595, pp. 9-II.

French Steel and Ruhr Coal

French Steel and Ruhr Coal

The Iron-Ore Problem of Lorraine

Importance of iron-ore reserves of Lorraine, 531. — Comparison with reserves of other countries, 534. — Quality and location of French reserves, 535. — Dependence of German steel industry upon Lorraine, 536.— Also of French steel industry, 538. — Probable French policy of control, 540. — Coal production of France and Germany, 544. — Importance of the Saar district, 547. — German pre-war view of importance of controlling iron in the interest of militancy, 552.