cockerill - sambre
buckley, neil ,
cockerill sambre in the red ,
financial times, march 27, 1997, p. 34 .
tett, gillian ,
decline steepens at cockerill sambre ,
financial times, april 15, 1994, p. 27 .
chamber arcelor - cockerill sambre amos has manufactured for arcelor - cockerill sambre a vacuum tank of large dimensions (8m x 5m x 5m and 120 tons) working at 10 - 6 mbar, central element of a pilot line for deposition on steel sheets .
cockerill sambre entered 1998 as a majority state - owned company, 79 percent - owned by the regional government of wallonia (the french - speaking southern half of belgium) - - the remainder was publicly traded. in october 1998 french steelmaking giant usinor s. a. reached an agreement with the government to acquire a 75 percent stake in cockerill sambre, with the government retaining 25 percent .
the other main grouping of firms in the surrounding area became the hainaut - sambre company in 1955, hainaut being the name of the province in which charleroi is situated. the two companies involved in the first merger were the usines métallurgiques de hainaut, founded in 1829, and sambre - et - moselle, founded in 1835. the merger between hainaut - sambre and thy - marcinelle et providence took place in 1979, not long after the transfer of providence to tmm by cockerill .
the cockerill group, following many different iterations of cockerill ougree, cockerill sambre, usinor and arcelor had their facilities absorbed into the mega indian / luxembourg conglomerate steel giant, arcelormittal in 2008. mittal then helpfully closed this blast furnace in 2009 and added further woe to eastern belgium’s already struggling economy leaving liege’s gdp per capita hovering at some 20k euros lower than the rest of belgium’s average .
the number of blast furnaces operating in wallonia declined from their peak of 30 during the postwar period up to 1963: only a third of these were in use by the late 1970s, and by 1988 only four remained at cockerill sambre .
the cockerill sambre group of the late 20th century resulted from the 1981 merger of the two major iron and steel groupings of the walloon region of belgium. from its beginnings, the cockerill group had been based at seraing on the river meuse a few miles upstream from liège, while the company hainaut - sambre was based at the town of charleroi, some 65 miles east of liège on the banks of the river sambre. the sambre flows into the meuse and provides a geographical link between these two regions, formerly rich in coal. in both areas, iron and steel production dates back before the 18th century, based on the coal mines of the areas, but the majority of the companies that have been absorbed gradually into the group were originally founded between 1800 and 1838 .
in 1997, while still seeking out potential partners, cockerill sambre reached the decision to focus its operations on three core areas: integrated steelmaking, steel distribution, and the manufacture of steel - based construction products. the company subsequently exited from the manufacture of automotive components with the 1997 disposal of ymos. by the beginning of 1998 cockerill had largely divested its environmental management services sector .
cockerill sambre posted losses of bfr 1. 39 billion in 1992 and bfr 6. 5 billion in 1993 before recovering somewhat in 1994, when it recorded net income of bfr 807 million. in early 1995 cockerill paid dm 150 million (us $ 100 million) for a 60 percent stake in gmbh eko stahl, which had run the largest steel plant in east germany prior to german reunification .
the gob assumed the interest costs of cockerill and clabecq for the five - year period from 1979 through 1983 .
hainaut - sambre merged with cockerill. in belgian steel, this equity infusion was determined to be countervailable because the gob paid more per share than the market price of the stock at that time and, hence, its investment was inconsistent with commercial considerations. we found this equity infusion countervailable in final .
the union took place in the depths of an economic recession, and the newly organized group of cockerill sambre began by posting massive losses. the european economic community was insisting that large government subsidies to the industry were unfair and had to be reduced substantially. a new center - right government introduced economic austerity measures and commissioned a report on the steel industry. this proposed further reductions in capacity, including plant closures at cockerill sambre - - one at charleroi and one at liège - - and more job losses. each region was to be allotted a specialty. the restructuring plan, known as the
gandois report ,
after the present chairman of cockerill sambre, was implemented in 1984. production of steel was stabilized at around 1975 levels, concentrated on only three plants, and the workforce was reduced to 15, 000, with the hope of even more reductions. it was also agreed that arbed s. a. , the luxembourg state steel producer, would reduce its rolled steel capacity in exchange for the securing of orders from cockerill .
alleur - liège, belgium: editions du perron, 1990. zwick, steve ,
steelmakers swarm to cockerill ,
pursuant to the gandois plan, snsn purchased 26, 666, 666 common shares of cockerill' s stock in 1985 for bf6 billion in order to finance an investment in cockerill' s cold - rolling facilities at liege. snsn purchased cockerill’s common shares at a price of bf225 per share. the market price of the stock at that time was bf197 per share .
in 1981, the gob decided to increase the capital of cockerill by infusing bf11 billion in cash in exchange for equity .
zwick, steve ,
steelmakers swarm to cockerill ,
american metal market, june 11, 1998, p. 1 .
under the claes plan, which is limited to the steel industry, the gob converted outstanding snci claims against cockerill into shares .
in early 1998 the company and the government of wallonia, which owned almost 79 percent of cockerill sambre at the time, began studying possible alliances. two main partners soon emerged: usinor and thyssen - krupp stahl. the latter, however, dropped out of the bidding soon after it was named one of the two finalists. in mid - october 1998 usinor agreed to acquire a 75 percent stake in cockerill for about bfr 36 billion (us $ 1. 1 billion), a move that would make the french company one of the three largest steelmakers in the world (along with nippon steel co. of japan and south korea' s pohang iron & steel co .). under the agreement, usinor would acquire 54 percent of cockerill from the wallonian government as well as the 21 percent held publicly. the government would retain a 25 percent
blocking
minority, with veto power over major strategic decisions concerning the cockerill workforce for five years. another condition of the agreement was that cockerill would have to acquire the 40 percent of eko stahl it did not already own. usinor agreed to invest bfr 30 billion (us $ 890 million) in cockerill over a five - year period. francis mer, president of usinor, was slated to serve as president of cockerill sambre following the deal' s completion .
smith, michael ,
usinor to acquire majority stake in cockerill ,
financial times, october 15, 1998, p. 30 .
airlock arcelor - cockerill sambre amos manufactured four vacuum vessels used for the entrance and exit lock chamber of the arceo (arcelor) line for vacuum deposit. a steel band from 600 to 1400 mm wide and from 0, 15 to 1, 5 mm thick can go continuously from the atmospheric pressure to 1 10 - 6 mbar. the scrolling speed can vary from 0 to 30m / minute .
pasleau, suzy, john cockerill: itineraire d' un geant industriel, alleur - liège, belgium: editions du perron, 1992, p. 207 .
alleur - liège, belgium: editions du perron, 1992, p. 207. smith, michael ,
usinor to acquire majority stake in cockerill ,
du bois, martin ,
usinor sa to acquire a 75% stake in cockerill ,
wall street journal, october 15, 1998, p. a17 .
cockerill, 1. 05 percent ad valorem for fafer (unchanged from the order), and 5. 92 percent ad valorem for all other companies (including clabecq) .
the cockerill family were instrumental in the belgian industrial revolution from 1805 onwards with their factories producing spinning engines and steel, steam engines (including air - blowers, traction engines, and engines for ships) and in 1835 belgium' s first steam locomotive. john cockerill also had interests in collierys and mines such as those at ougree, across the meuse river from hf6 .
a chronological perspective provides a clearer overview of the complexities of all these mergers and regroupings. beginning with the rise of the 19th - century companies, there were, to start with, four principal companies in each of the two regions of liège and charleroi. the first significant mergers did not take place until 1955, following reorganization plans initiated after the formation of the european commission for coal and steel in 1952. these resulted in the formation of hainaut - sambre in the charleroi region, and cockerill - ougrée at liège. another ten years passed before the mid - 1960s witnessed two further rationalizations: the incorporation of providence to form cockerill - ougrée - providence at liège, and the coming together of some of the earliest charleroi - based companies to form thy - marcinelle et monceau .
on july 9, 1993, the department of commerce (the department) published in the federal register the final affirmative countervailing duty determination on cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium (“investigation”). see final affirmative countervailing duty determinations; certain steel products from belgium, 58 fr 37273 (july 9, 1993) (final) and countervailing duty order and amended final affirmative countervailing duty determinations; certain steel products from belgium, 58 fr 43749 (august 17, 1993) (order). the department investigated three companies: forges de clabecq s. a. (forges de clabecq or clabecq), fabrique de fer de charleroi (fafer) 1 and cockerill sambre (cockerill). the department found 20 programs to be countervailable. of these programs, three had several
one of the largest industrial groups in belgium, the cockerill sambre group is a medium - sized integrated steelmaking concern. the group has three core activities: integrated steel manufacturing, particularly coated steel sheets; steel distribution, operating primarily in france and the netherlands in addition to belgium; and manufacturing of steel - based products for the construction industry. the group is also involved in several noncore areas, with these activities stemming from the historical development of the group and from a program of diversification embarked upon in the early 1990s. these include mechanical engineering and various services operations .
in 1989, according to petitioners, after the conversion of large amounts of fsnw loans to equity, fsnw made a new loan to cockerill in the amount of bf158 million to finance investments in accordance with the gandois plan .
closed in 2009, this blast furnace was one of the many elements of the former cockerill industrial empire that twisted its way through the meuse valley from france to charleroi, namur, liege and seraing joining the rhine–meuse–scheldt delta in holland .
seraing together with other towns lying along the river meuse is considered as one of the cradles of european industrial revolution. the rise of heavy industry was initiated by british entrepreneur john cockerill, who built the first iron ore smelter in 1817 already. after his death in 1840 the plant was nationalized and continued to grow under the name
société anonyme john cockerill
. in 1955 the works were merged with neighbouring plant in ougrée and soon an integrated plant
cockerill - ougrée
with more than 45. 000 workers was formed. by the 90´s the owners of the plant were changing rapidly. first new company
cockerill - ougrée - providence et espérance longdoz
was established, later overtaken by arbed and usinor and finally merged with arcelor mittal in 2010. the mill was not doing well though. several restarts and mothballing lead into definite shutdown in 2009. demolition of blast furnace no. 6 started in january 2016 and will take three years .
loans granted by the snci in the amount of bf14, 947 million were contributed to cockerill' s capital in 1981. because shares were apparently not issued to snci. or any government entity for its contribution, this transaction represents debt forgiveness .
the key figure of the liège region was an englishman, john cockerill, whose name the group still bears to this day. his father, william, was an english engineer who had emigrated and established a successful textile machinery manufacturing firm at verviers, 15 miles from liège. in 1814 john cockerill acquired from king william of orange the old chateau at seraing, formerly the summer residence of the prince - bishops of liège. this has remained the registered office of cockerill sambre, and still houses the mechanical engineering division. the new factory opened in 1817, at first producing steam engines for spinning mills and winding and pumping engines for collieries. as coal was available on site, the company decided to produce the metal it required as well. the company was the first in europe to erect a coke - fired blast furnace, which began production in 1826. by 1847 there were six blast furnaces in use. the state of belgium was not created until 1830, following a revolutionary episode which necessitated the closure of the works at seraing for a time. when production resumed, the company produced some of the first locomotives for the belgian state railways .
in june 1979, pursuant to the claes plan, the gob converted bf2. 051 billion in outstanding snci claims against cockerill into 1, 578, 150 shares, for approximately bf1, 300 per share. the debt conversions made to acquire the equity were on terms inconsistent with commercial considerations and were found to be countervailable .
in 1983 the gob forgave bf15. 785 billion of snci debt in exchange for common shares in the company priced at bf160 per share, the average market price of cockerill’s shares traded between july and november 1983. the department found that the gob paid a premium for these shares and treated the premium as a non - recurring grant .
in 1984, pursuant to the gandois plan, the societe nationale de credite a l' industrie (snci) provided bf1, 616 million in credits to cockerill to finance the closing of the company' s valfil plant. the gandois plan was a plan commissioned and adopted by the gob in 1983 specifically to assist the belgian steel industry .
in september 1996 the still struggling cockerill said that it would seek an alliance with another european steelmaker. the company also announced the launch of the
horizon 2000
plan, a restructuring aimed at significantly reducing costs at one of europe' s most inefficient steelmakers by the turn of the century. to implement the plan, the company expected to cut more than 2, 200 jobs from its 10, 000 - person workforce in belgium. in late 1996 merger discussions with privately owned belgian steelmaker usines gustave boël led nowhere. for fiscal 1996, cockerill posted a net loss of bfr 8. 97 billion, including exceptional costs of bfr 7. 7 billion related to
horizon 2000 .
the other key company from the liège area was esperance - longdoz. its origins can be traced back to the dothée family, which was already trading in ironmongery, copper ware, zinc objects and utensils, sheet metal, and hardware during the early 18th century. esperance - longdoz was formed in 1836, based on coal mines at esperance, near seraing, and with the involvement of john cockerill. the first blast furnace opened there in 1838, followed in 1846 by a tin - plate works in the longdoz district of liège. the company was involved in joint ventures with cockerill to exploit mineral rights, and became a major coke producer of this period. esperance - longdoz proved to be one of the most dynamic companies in the history of the group, surviving as a separate entity for 135 years until one of the penultimate mergers in 1970; as late as 1963 a brand new steelworks was built by esperance - longdoz on a greenfield site at chertal, to the north of liège .
as a result of this sunset review, the department preliminarily finds that revocation of the countervailing duty order on ctl plate from belgium would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy for the reasons set forth in this memorandum. further, we find the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail if the order were revoked to be 2. 82 percent ad valorem for cockerill, 0. 56 percent ad valorem for fafer, and 0. 50 percent ad valorem for “all others” (including clabecq) .
during this period the other important liège steelmaker, esperance - longdoz, had constructed a modern steel complex at chertal to the north of the town, opened in 1963 to replace its works on sites nearer the town. these had become surrounded by other developments and were consequently suffering from a shortage of space in which to expand and introduce the wider strip mills which had become necessary in order to remain competitive in the market. at the end of the 1960s, a government committee formed to study the problems of the belgian metallurgical industries decided that further concentration was necessary in this region in order to maintain the competitiveness of the industry nationally, reduce overproduction, improve efficiency, and target investment and subsidies. problems were also due to the rise in the price of oil at this time, as the industry had become increasingly reliant on this form of energy following the decline in coal production. the two companies therefore decided to effect a complete merger, following a one - year period of joint management beginning in july 1979. this led to the formation in june 1970 of cockerill - ougrée - providence et esperance - longdoz. it was logical at that time for the new group to dispose of the providence works - - which were in charleroi, not liège & mdashø the tmm company at charleroi. for the next ten years, the company was known simply as cockerill, appearing to renew the link with the years 1817 to 1955 .
in the instant case, the respondent interested parties argued that their changes in ownership were at arm’s length and for fair market value, resulting in the extinguishment of all countervailable subsidies. we have now fully analyzed these changes in ownership. see memorandum to stephen j. claeys, deputy assistant secretary, import administration, re: sunset review of countervailing duty order on cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium; analysis of changes in ownership (change in ownership memorandum). we have concluded that the privatizations of forges de clabecq and cockerill did not result in the extinguishment of non - recurring, allocable subsidy benefits, and that the private sale of fafer was at arm’s length and resulted in the full extinguishment of non - recurring, allocable subsidy benefits. id .
the early 1970s saw increasing steel production in belgium, peaking in 1974, when there were nine major steelworks in operation. this resulted in overproduction, as the market was becoming saturated, and meant that drastic measures had to be taken. by 1979 both production and the number of plants had been halved, with reductions in the workforce continuing up until 1985, by which time employment in the industry had fallen to half its 1975 level. the charleroi region, which had not benefited from the concentration effected in liège ten years earlier, was now obliged to undergo its own rationalization, with the absorption of thy - marcinelle et providence - - formerly tmm - - by hainaut - sambre in 1980. however, this step was not enough to stabilize the industry, and the government, which had already taken a 50 percent stake in the industry in 1978, now decided that complete integration of the metallurgical industries of the two regions under one management was necessary. there were also the wider problems of belgian industry connected with the difficulties between the french - speaking wallonia region, which includes charleroi and liège, and the flemish - speaking northern regions. the two complexes were united with 80 percent state ownership (by the government of wallonia), on june 26, 1981 .
domestic interested parties point out that in a more recent sunset review of another countervailing duty order on belgian products the department found a likelihood that subsidization would continue or recur under certain subsidy programs found to benefit producers. see stainless steel plate in coils from belgium; final results of the expedited sunset review of the countervailing duty order; 69 fr 64277 (november 4, 2004). domestic interested parties note that duferco and arcelor did not provide information to support their claims that certain subsidies were extinguished as a result of forges de clabecq’s and cockerill’s privatizations. domestic interested parties argue that the forges de clabecq and arcelor privatizations have not been reviewed under the department’s new privatization methodology, as established in notice of final modification of agency practice under section 123 of the uruguay round agreements act, 68 fr 37125 (june 23, 2003) (modification notice), and respondents have not requested such review .
as noted above, we have preliminarily determined that all programs found countervailable in the investigation, with the exception of the four programs for which we find that subsidization is not likely to continue or recur, remain in place. in addition, the two programs which were first found countervailable in the only administrative review remain in place. in accordance with the sspc from italy sunset review, we are including the rates from those programs in our calculation of the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail. in calculating the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail, we recognize that, for many of these programs, the benefits have been fully allocated prior to the end of the sunset review period; for such programs, the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail is effectively zero. for the remaining programs, we have relied on prior segments of this proceeding, as appropriate. our determination of the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail for each program is discussed in detail in the likelihood memorandum. as discussed in the likelihood memorandum, the overall rates likely to prevail are 2. 82 percent ad valorem for cockerill, 0. 56 percent ad valorem for fafer, and 0. 50 percent ad valorem for “all others” (including clabecq) .
within a few years of the implementation of the gandois plan, the success of the measures had become evident, with the company being given a new lease of life, and diversification into other steel - based products taking place. the mid - 1980s were a relatively stable period, culminating in further internal rationalizations, such as the decision to specialize in thin flat products on the steel production side; the development of new products such as coated steel roof tiles by the french - based construction products division; and concentration on heavy engineering in the mechanical engineering division. in 1990 came the acquisition of a majority holding in ymos a. g. , a major german manufacturer of metal and plastic parts for automobiles. other diversification moves included ventures into financial and data processing services as well as environmental management services .
in the early 1990s, the entire european steel industry, largely state - owned at the time, was in crisis. international competition, most notably from japanese and korean steelmakers, kept prices chronically depressed. only a us $ 8. 5 billion 1993 bailout from the european union saved the industry. privatization, restructuring, and consolidation were the watchwords of the decade, and mergers created three dominating european steel giants: arbed of luxembourg, usinor of france, and thyssen - krupp stahl ag of germany .
principal divisions: integrated steel division; distribution division; construction division; mechanical engineering division; services division .
- - - - - - ,
marriage crosses borders ,
financial times, november 3, 1998, p. fts5 .
willem, leon, 450 ans d' espérance: la s. a. métallurgique d' esperance - longdoz de 1519 a 1969, alleur - liège, belgium: editions du perron, 1990 .
source: international directory of company histories, vol. 26. st. james press, 1999 .
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amos was responsible for the conception and manufacturing of a complete line of sheet steel coating in a vacuum process. the deposit is continuously performed. the line is constituted by a set of vacuum vessels placed in series and realizing the following functions :
advanced mechanical and optical systems (amos) manufactures small optical pieces by diamond turning mainly for infrared applications but also, after post polishing, for visible or ultraviolet. concave or convex mirrors up to 500mm can be machined with extreme asphericities... .
the exomars probe is now in orbit around mars and took its first photos
up close
with the cassis instrument. more info: click here
amos selected as major subcontractor to design the structure of the giant magellan telescope .
450 ans d' espérance: la s. a. métallurgique d' esperance - longdoz de 1519 a 1969 ,
the société d’opérations maritimes et fluviales (abbreviated as somef) was founded in 1920 by ougrée - marihaye, a liège - based steel maker. with two places of business in liège and antwerp and a subsidiary in rotterdam, this company was already engaged in all port operations, maritime and waterway transport .
the antwerp site joins satem (usinor subsidiary). after the merger, it will ultimately become arcelor logistics belgium .
the liège site becomes autonomous. the new company created will assume the current name of “ somef. ”
the compagnie française de navigation rhénane (cfnr) acquires 40% of the shares of somef .
cfnr acquires 70% of the company’s shares; the remaining 30% are still held by the arcelormittal group .
cfnr acquires deschieter in ghlin where our charleroi office is established (1 charterer) .
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we made our way across belgium towards the industrial badness of the meuse valley .
liege and seraing are pretty mucky towns, houses are tainted with industrial grime and things look generally a bit knackered. every now and again the fairly nondescript skyline is punctuated by belching chimneys and structures such as this. having the view (and smell) of redcar' s blast furnace from my bedroom window as a child, these enormous, fiery, rusty majestic structures have always held a certain allure and this was definitely not “just another splore”
the site itself is fairly secure for belgian standards with actual razor wire and security, made for a funny challenge of getting in whilst not being spotted by a bloke mending his citroen ax (who had a “funny arse” - cregg) or making all the noise .
plus i now have a parking pass, so we can return without fear of being towed .
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. hf must stand for holy fuck in the case, champion reporting again .
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. quality pics
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. some excellent photos. dont want to swell his head but jst = 28 dl, apex photographer... great work, enjoyed seeing it !
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. nice work jst - always great to read your reports pal, as they combine great photos with factual history about the sites in question
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. good work, but you can' t beat a good cso
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. great pictures, i like the ones from further up, the bits i didnt see because the voice in my head was doing that ...
go on you know you want to dive off the side, and if you don' t the whole things going to collapse
thing c
great pictures, i like the ones from further up, the bits i didnt see because the voice in my head was doing that ...
go on you know you want to dive off the side, and if you don' t the whole things going to collapse
thing c
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. fantastic place, report, and photographs .
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. mmmmmm pipe porn ...
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. cheers all. @ kwan - there are much better here for definite, i just point an expensive camera at things and hope for the best .
cheers all. @ kwan - there are much better here for definite, i just point an expensive camera at things and hope for the best .
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. yes
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. fantastic pictures mate... . as usual, great depth & composition in your output, it always stand out
re: haut furneau / blast furnace hf6 - belgium. march 2014. nice one mate. . i didnt fancy going to the top either. .
1in other proceedings under this order, fafer has at times been referred to as “fabfer. ”
we have analyzed the substantive responses and rebuttal comments of interested parties in the full sunset review of the countervailing duty (cvd) order on cut - to - length carbon steel plate (ctl plate) from belgium. we recommend that you approve the positions we have developed in the “discussion of the issues” section of this memorandum. below is the complete list of the issues in this full sunset review for which we received substantive responses by domestic and respondent interested parties .
sub - programs for which a separate countervailability decision was made and rate calculated, thus bringing the total number of countervailable programs to 29 .
as a result of litigation concerning the investigation, and a 1996 court of international trade (cit) decision, the department recalculated the rates for the final determination. see geneva steel et al v. united states, 937 f. supp 946 (cit 1996) and amended final affirmative countervailing duty determinations; certain carbon steel products from belgium, 62 fr 37880 (july 15, 1997) (amended final). the adjusted rates were 23. 15 percent ad valorem for
the department has conducted only one administrative review of this order since its issuance. fafer was the only company subject to that review. see cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium; final results of countervailing duty administrative review, 64 fr 12982 (march 16 1999) and cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium; amended final results of countervailing duty administrative review, 64 fr 18001 (april 13, 1999) (administrative review amended final). in that review, the department found a rate of 0. 69 percent ad valorem for fafer, resulting from fafer’s use of “cash grants and interest subsidies under the economic expansion law of 1970, ” and two new programs: “promotion brochure” and “audio - visual calling card. ”
the department has completed one sunset review of this order pursuant to section 751 (c) of the tariff act of 1930, as amended (the act). see certain cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium; final results of expedited sunset review, 65 fr 18066 (april 6, 2000) (first sunset review). as a result of that review, the department determined that revocation of the cvd order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a net countervailable subsidy and reported to the international trade commission (itc) the rates determined in the amended final as the rates likely to prevail if the order were revoked .
in accordance with 19 cfr 351. 218 (f) (4), the department published a notice of continuation of the cvd order based on affirmative findings by both the department and the itc. see continuation of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on certain carbon steel products from australia, belgium, brazil, canada, finland, france, germany, japan, south korea, mexico, poland, romania, spain, sweden, taiwan, and the united kingdom, 65 fr 78469 (december 15, 2000) .
since the conclusion of the first five - year sunset review, no other reviews of this cvd order have been conducted .
on november 1, 2005, the department initiated a sunset review of the cvd order on ctl steel plate from belgium, pursuant to section 751 (c) of the act. see initiation of five - year (“sunset”) reviews, 70 fr 65884 (november 1, 2005). the department received notices of intent to participate on behalf of ipsco steel inc. , mittal steel usa inc. , oregon steel mill, inc. , united steel, paper and forestry, rubber, manufacturing, energy, allied industrial and service workers international union, afl - cio - clc (usw), and nucor corporation (hereinafter, collectively domestic interested parties) within the deadline specified in 19 cfr 351. 218 (d) (1) (i). the domestic interested parties claimed interested party status under section 771 (9) (c) and (d) of the act, as domestic producers of ctl plate in the united states
2 although duferco reported that it purchased clabecq, and arcelor claims to be the successor - in - interest to the other two original respondent companies, the department has not made a determination in the past that duferco and arcelor are the successors - in - interest to the respective respondent companies and is not making such a determination in this sunset review. however, we have considered in this sunset review the historical information provided with respect to d uferco and arcelor for purposes of our privatization and change - in - ownership analyses. see memorandum to stephen j. claeys, deputy assistant secretary, import administration, re: sunset review of countervailing duty order on cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium; analysis of changes in ownership, dated concurrently with this notice and on file in the central records unit, room b - 099 of the department of commerce building (cru) .
and as a certified union which is representative of an industry engaged in the manufacture, production, or wholesale of ctl plate in the united states .
the department received substantive responses from the domestic interested parties, and from the following respondent interested parties: government of belgium (gob), the european union delegation of the european commission (ec), duferco clabecq s. a. (duferco), which purchased clabecq, and arcelor s. a. , claiming to be the successor - in - interest to fafer and cockerill2 (collectively, respondents), within the deadline as specified under 19 cfr 351. 218 (d) (4). on december 21, 2005, the department determined that the participation of the respondents was adequate, and that it was appropriate to conduct a full sunset review. see memorandum to stephen j. claeys, deputy assistant secretary, import administration, re: adequacy determination; sunset review of the countervailing duty order on cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium, dated december 21, 2005, on file in cru .
on february 10, 2006, the department extended the time limit for the preliminary and final results of the sunset review of the cvd order on ctl plate from belgium to no later than july 14 and september 27, 2006, respectively. see cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium, sweden, and the united kingdom; extension of time limits for preliminary and final results of full five - year (“sunset”) reviews of countervailing duty orders, 71 fr 7017 (february 10, 2006) .
in accordance with section 751 (c) (1) of the act, the department is conducting this review to determine whether revocation of the cvd order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy. section 752 (b) (1) of the act provides that, in making this determination, the department shall consider the net countervailable subsidy determined in the investigation and any subsequent reviews, and whether any changes in the programs which gave rise to the net countervailable subsidy have occurred that are likely to affect that net countervailable subsidy .
pursuant to section 752 (b) (3) of the act, the department shall provide to the itc the net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail if the order were revoked. in addition, consistent with
section 752 (a) (6) of the act, the department shall provide to the itc information concerning the nature of the subsidy and whether the subsidy is a subsidy described in article 3 or article 6. 1 of the 1994 world trade organization (wto) agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures (ascm). below we address the substantive responses and rebuttal comments of interested parties .
domestic interested parties argue that revocation of the cvd order on ctl plate from belgium would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailing subsidy. domestic interested parties support their argument based on the dramatic decrease of shipments of belgian ctl steel plate to the united states following the imposition of the cvd order. they note that since the department’s conclusion of the first sunset review, imports of belgian ctl steel plate have remained at relatively low levels. domestic interested parties believe that belgian producers of ctl steel plate cannot maintain pre - order volumes with the imposition of the order, and go on to state that net subsidy rates assessed in the investigation, and affirmed in the first sunset review, continue to protect the u. s. steel industry .
the gob argues that there will be no negative impact from revocation of the order under review. the gob argues that the belgian industry is no longer benefitting from any subsidies and there is no likelihood that this situation will change in the foreseeable future. the gob specifically notes that in the late 1980’s, the belgian steel sector underwent a full restructuring where belgian steel producers were either privatized or sold and are all now fully privatelyowned and compete on commercial terms in the international market. in support of its argument that belgian steel companies no longer benefit from subsidization, the gob submitted the community decision no. 2496 / 96 / ecsc of december 18, 1996, which prohibits the granting of aid to the steel industry .
the ec also argues that there will be no negative impact from revocation of the cvd order. it argues that previous investigations demonstrate that the belgian steel sector no longer benefits from subsidies, and it is not likely that the situation may change in the foreseeable future. the ec argues that belgian steel companies have not received any substantial assistance since 1988, and cite to community decision no. 2496 / 96 / ecsc to support their argument that subsidization is not likely to recur .
arcelor argues that the belgian and european programs found in the investigation to be countervailable are terminated with no residual benefits, or no longer confer benefits to arcelor, and will not do so in the future .
dufero clabecq argues that there is no likelihood of continuation or recurrence of subsidization for the reasons stated in gob’s substantive submission. duferco clabecq contends
that all of the programs have been terminated and are not likely to be reinstated and that any subsidies to the predecessor entity, forges de clabecq, were eliminated when forges de clabecq was sold at arm’s length to duferco for fair market value. duferco notes that the current entity, duferco clabecq, did not participate in any prior segments of this case and that forges de clabecq sa did participate in the investigation and is subject to the country - wide rate of 5. 85 percent ad valorem .
respondents have provided many program - specific arguments regarding the 29 programs (including sub - programs) found countervailable in the investigation. in general, their arguments are that many programs have been terminated, that benefits under many of the programs are fully allocated, or that ec rules prohibit aid. these arguments are summarized in the memorandum to stephen j. claeys, deputy assistant secretary for import administration, re: sunset review of countervailing duty order on cut - to - length carbon steel plate from belgium; likelihood of continuation or recurrence of subsidization and net countervailable subsidy likely to prevail, dated concurrently with this memorandum and on file in cru (likelihood memorandum). the department’s analyses and conclusions on each program are also presented in the likelihood memorandum .
in their rebuttal comments, domestic interested parties argue that the department should disregard respondents’ arguments as the gob submission does not provide evidence of termination of countervailable programs. domestic interested parties note that, in the first sunset review of this order, the department found that no programs from the investigation or first administrative review were terminated; domestic interested parties further argue that no evidence has been provided in this sunset review indicating that the programs have been terminated .
the department preliminarily finds that revocation of the order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy on the subject merchandise. in accordance with section 752 (b) (1) of the act, in determining whether revocation of a cvd order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy, the
3on january 8, 2003, the dispute settlement body (dsb) of the wto adopted the report of the wto appellate body in united states - countervailing measures concerning certain products from the european communities, wt / ds212 / ab / r (december 9, 2002) (certain products) concluding that the department’s prior privatization methodology was inconsistent with the wto agreement. the appellate body report also concluded that “in sunset reviews, the investigating authority, before deciding to continue to countervail pre - privatization, nonrecurring subsidies, is obliged to ‘examine the conditions of such privatizations and to determine whether the privatized producers received any benefit from the prior subsidization to the state - owned producers. ’” id. at para. 149 (quoting the report of the wto panel). starting with certain pasta from italy: preliminary results and partial rescission of the seventh countervailing duty administrative review, 69 fr 45676 (july 30, 2004), the department has applied our revised privatization methodology, with some qualifications, to private - to - private sales of a company (or its assets) in addition to government - to - private sales. consequently, the department has
department shall consider the net countervailable subsidy determined in the investigation and subsequent reviews, and whether any changes in the programs which gave rise to the net countervailable subsidy have occurred that are likely to affect that net countervailable subsidy. in the investigation, the department found that 29 programs, including sub - programs, conferred countervailable subsidies. in the only administrative review of this order, the department found that fafer benefitted from subsidization under the “cash grants and interest subsidies under the economic expansion law of 1970, ” a program found to benefit fafer during the period of investigation. in addition, two new programs were found to confer countervailable subsidies in the administrative review. in the first sunset review, the department determined that revocation of the cvd order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy .
in this sunset review, the department preliminarily determines that the following four programs previously found countervailable have been terminated with no residual benefits or replacement programs: ecological incentives, clabecq infusion from sococlabecq, other clabecq loans, and snsn loans. the department’s analysis supporting this conclusion is presented in the likelihood memorandum .
however, we agree with domestic interested parties that respondents did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that all other programs have been terminated in accordance with 19 cfr 351. 526 (d) (1) and (2), including the two programs first found countervailable in the only administrative review of this order. the department’s detailed analysis of whether subsidization is likely to continue or recur, on a program - by - program basis, is contained in the likelihood memorandum .
the gob and the respondent companies have also argued that since the investigation, all three respondent companies underwent changes in ownership. the gob claims that these changes in ownership were at arm’s length and for fair market value and, as such, extinguished non - recurring allocable subsidy benefits provided prior to the changes in ownership. the department has considered the gob’s and the respondent companies’ arguments and evidence that the changes in ownership extinguished all non - recurring allocable subsidy benefits provided prior to the changes in ownership. 3 see change in ownership memo. however, a change in determined to evaluate respondents’ change - in - ownership claims in the context of this sunset review. see change in ownership memorandum .
ownership cannot serve as a basis for determining that a subsidy program has been terminated. thus, a change in ownership cannot affect our analysis of whether programs previously found to be countervailable continue to exist and warrant an affirmative likelihood determination. for the reasons provided above, based on the continued existence of programs found to confer countervailable subsidies, and insufficient documentation to support a determination of termination of all programs, we determine that revocation of the cvd order would be likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of a countervailable subsidy .
domestic interested parties argue that the net countervailing duty rates found in the original investigation, as amended, and affirmed in the first sunset review, are the appropriate rates to report to the itc. domestic interested parties note that no other administrative reviews have been conducted since that time to warrant a different outcome.
cockerill-sambre was a group of belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in seraing ( province of liège ) , on the meuse river , and in charleroi , on the shore of the sambre river . the cockerill-sambre group was formed in 1981 by the merger of two belgian steel groups ; cockerill based in seraing ( liege province ) , and hainaut-sambre based in charleroi in the province of hainaut ; both being the result of post second world war consolidations of the belgian steel industry . the company inherited a steel industry with significant debts and production overcapacity based on blast furnace production rather than electric furnace recycling , with numerous factory sites in constrained city locations , and adversely affected by competition in the export market from new steel producing countries such as south korea and brasil . the need to streamline was complicated by regional dependence on employment by the steel industry . it was merged into usinor in 1998 , and after 2002 was part of the arcelor group . as of 2010 the bulk of the group is part of the arcelormittal multinational steel group , where it is known as arcelormittal liege . 
cockerill-sambre was a group of belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in seraing (province of liège), on the meuse river, and in charleroi, on the shore of the sambre river. the cockerill-sambre group was formed in 1981 by the merger of two belgian steel groups; cockerill based in seraing (liege province), and hainaut-sambre based in charleroi in the province of hainaut; both being the result of post second world war consolidations of the belgian steel industry. the company inherited a steel industry with significant debts and production overcapacity based on blast furnace production rather than electric furnace recycling, with numerous factory sites in constrained city locations, and adversely affected by competition in the export market from new steel producing countries such as south korea and brasil. the need to streamline was complicated by regional dependence on employment by the steel industry. it was merged into usinor in 1998, and after 2002 was part of the arcelor group. as of 2010 the bulk of the group is part of the arcelormittal multinational steel group, where it is known as arcelormittal liege.
cockerill-sambre was a group of belgian steel manufacturers headquartered in seraing (province of liège), on the meuse river, and in charleroi, on the shore of the sambre river. the cockerill-sambre group was formed in 1981 by the merger of two belgian steel groups; cockerill based in seraing (liege province), and hainaut-sambre based in charleroi in the province of hainaut; both being the result of post second world war consolidations of the belgian steel industry. the company inherited a steel industry with significant debts and production overcapacity based on blast furnace production rather than electric furnace recycling, with numerous factory sites in constrained city locations, and adversely affected by competition in the export market from new steel producing countries such as south korea and brasil. the need to streamline was complicated by regional dependence on employment by the steel industry. it was merged into usinor in 1998, and after 2002 was part of the arcelor group. as of 2010 the bulk of the group is part of the arcelormittal multinational steel group, where it is known as arcelormittal liege.