Tensions are only easing than economic tensions in New Caledonia. On Grande Terre, the main island, there is on the one hand the south of the island, where Nouméa concentrates the maximum of activity, and, on the other, in the north, KNS’ nickel production. The plant, built in 2010 to rebalance the archipelago’s progression, will close at the end of the month and will lay off 1,200 people.
Les espoirs de rééquilibrage économique en Nouvelle Calédonie avec une activité de production de nickel pérenne au nord de l’île de Grande Terre, se sont dissipés. Ebranlée en février 2024 par le retrait du géant minier Glencore, l’usine de production Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) va fermer définitivement fin août. Au-delà de la perte d’emploi quasi irrémédiable pour les 1700 salariés de l’entreprise, c’est tout un projet de développement durable qui s’effondre. Il était crucial pour les indépendantistes au pouvoir en Nouvelle Calédonie et sa disparition compromet un peu plus le retour à une situation économique saine. Le nickel représente 97% des exportations et 13 000 emplois, directs et indirects dans l’archipel.
Initially, the factory’s order went beyond the mere production of nickel. It was to be able to expand promising economic activity in the north, a more independent and dispossessed territory, and an integral component of the Nouméa agreements signed in 1997. Glencore, the main funder of the mission in which it claimed to have invested more than 4 billion dollars. Parent company since 2013. It is also the main shareholder with 49% until its withdrawal in February of this year.
The Koniambo plant was also intended to be an example of sustainable mining progression by minimizing its environmental effects and maximizing its positive social effects. We can still see lines of it on Glencore’s online page, where the KNS commit can still be accessed. There it is written, in French, that “economic good fortune is not the only objective of Koniambo Nickel, which needs to combine its exceptional productivity with respect for others and nature while minimizing its environmental effects. ”
A cutting-edge procedure for nickel exploitation has been tested and developed there, but it cannot be resumed if the furnaces are permanently closed, which will have to be done until October. The activity is already greatly affected by the end of the subcontracting contracts that affected another 400 people and caused the gradual paralysis of the hotels and restaurants frequented by those who later worked in the KNS factory. The public shareholder, Société Minière du Sud Pacifique, still owns 51% of the capital and still hopes to find buyers, although this remains hypothetical.
Already bleeding, the island’s economy will sink a little deeper into crisis. The territory where we still have Pacific Francs, known as CPF by the French Pacific Colonies, is in bad condition!In mid-July, the New Caledonian Assembly had to modify its budget in the face of abysmal problems of money flow. The revolts that began in May left a deficit of 32,000 million CFP (270 million euros) in tax benefits. However, they are essential to finance local governments. government and all local public services. The French state has granted an advance of 12 billion CPF (100 million euros) that must be repaid in the spring of 2025, but the monetary aid promised by Emmanuel Macron for the stopover in the territory is still pending. The local authority was almost bankrupt at the beginning of the year and of the island’s 270,000 inhabitants, the number of departures multiplies. Avoiding mass destruction, is advancing.
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