It's official.
On Wednesday, the Brazilian group Vale announced the sale of its Goro nickel plant, located in southern New Caledonia, to a Caledonian and international consortium including the commodity trader Trafigura.
A blow for the pro-independence, who favored a competing offer for the takeover of this industrial site crucial for the economy of the island.
In parallel with the negotiations, clashes are on the increase.
We take stock.
What's going on with the Goro factory?
At the heart of this story, there is therefore an absolutely strategic industrial site, in Goro, which includes a factory, a power station, a port and above all a large deposit of nickel and cobalt, employs 3,000 people.
But after losing several billion dollars, its owner, the Brazilian group Vale, announced a year ago that it wanted to leave New Caledonia.
Faced with major technical challenges, the plant was resized before it was put on sale and now manufactures an intermediate product for the electric car battery market.
"The transformation process of the Goro plant represents a very important stake in the face of a booming market", analysis for
Le Parisien
Pierre-Yves Le Meur, anthropologist specializing in nickel in New Caledonia.
The takeover of this plant must be completed quickly because Vale has announced its intention to leave the territory by December 31.
Faced with this short deadline, the issue is explosive and stirs up tensions between separatists and non-separatists.
Why are the separatists opposed to this takeover?
The archipelago's majority non-independence party supports the Caledonian and international consortium Prony ressources.
This is notably led by commodity trader Trafigura, based in Switzerland, which entered into exclusive negotiations with the Vale group on November 5.
In contrast, members of the “southern factory: country factory” collective, the Indigenous Customary Negotiating Authority (ICAN) and the independence coalition FLNKS are totally opposed to the arrangement with Trafigura.
Supporters of mining nationalism, they refuse this sale which would be, according to them, "the plunder of the country's resources by multinationals".
They were defending a competing offer in partnership with the Korean group Korea Zinc, which would have allowed a majority local shareholder to keep 56% of the capital.
But the offer was quickly dismissed by Vale, and the Korean group announced on Monday that it was withdrawing from the race.
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"The separatists' project is what we call a
nationalism of resources
with the objective of building an economically viable independence", explains Pierre-Yves Le Meur.
This strategy, the "nickel doctrine", consists in controlling as much as possible the extraction of nickel resources, but also their transformation, continues the specialist, while this ore is the main economic resource of the archipelago.
“There is a desire to create a unity around the mining issue which is completely central in the independence discourse.
It is a mobilization which unites this camp very strongly, beyond the possible differences between independence parties and indigenous groups, ”explains the specialist.
Why did violence break out?
The announcement of the sale, this Wednesday, comes after several days of roadblocks, blockades and clashes with the police.
Since then, the violence has increased further, with roadblocks held by opponents of the project and counter-roadblocks set up by those in favor of the sale.
During the night, a gas station was set on fire in Mont-Dore (a town in the south) and “armed bands repeatedly attacked the police.
Successive clashes took place throughout the night and we deplore burnt shops, a ransacked park and one injured among our firefighters, ”reported the mayor of the city, Eddie Lecourieux.
In view of this escalation, High Commissioner Laurent Prévost issued an order prohibiting the carrying and transport of firearms and bladed weapons.
"Everyone is very worried about returning to a polarization which could be violent", worries Pierre-Yves Le Meur.
Indeed, these tensions intervene just after the second referendum on independence of October 4, won by a short head by supporters of a French New Caledonia (53.3%), and which further exacerbated the divisions between pros and anti-independence.
A third vote is expected to be held by 2022.
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New Caledonia: five minutes to understand the new vote on self-determination
How did the government react?
Tuesday, Prime Minister Jean Castex "firmly" condemned the violence of recent days, speaking of "worrying" events.
Jean Castex condemns the violence in New Caledonia, ensures that the situation is closely monitored and calls for dialogue.
pic.twitter.com/j1cQACw3hO
- La1ere.fr (@ la1ere) December 8, 2020
The Prime Minister stressed that the sale announced to the Caledonian and international consortium of which Trafigura is a part is the “only viable offer for the takeover”.
"I can assure you that this offer, which we support, is accompanied by strict conditions that we have set, in particular on the financial and environmental package", he hammered during questions to the government in the National Assembly.
"These conditions could be discussed until the final signature scheduled for next January", he added, insisting on the need to continue the dialogue "until a negotiated solution is reached with all the players".
By then, the Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, must meet on Thursday by videoconference the main Caledonian political actors on this file.
But the separatists have already announced that they will boycott this meeting.
