Fibre Excellence's Saint-Gaudens pulp mill wins extension, Tarascon site secured by state
The Toulouse Commercial Court granted Fibre Excellence's Saint-Gaudens pulp mill a further three months on 15 September, extending its operating deadline to 15 December while a new takeover proposal worth an estimated EUR 90m is finalised. At the group's liquidated Tarascon site, the French government has authorised the ecological transition agency ADEME to carry out emergency safety work after inspectors found around 17,000 tonnes of wood and hazardous materials still on site, with costs to be charged to the liquidators.
Why this mattersThe diverging fates of the two mills show how restructuring can either preserve pulp capacity through fresh industrial investment or end in liquidation with public bodies forced to manage residual safety and environmental risk.
- Toulouse Commercial Court extended Saint-Gaudens' operating deadline to 15 December on 15 September
- Potential buyers must submit a new takeover proposal by 22 October, with a court hearing set for 3 November
- The Saint-Gaudens project envisages an estimated EUR 90m investment package, with Soprema among the industrial investors
- French state will provide a EUR 2m loan via Bpifrance to fund operations through 30 September; Occitanie region will contribute EUR 3.5m for October to mid-December
- Fibre Excellence Provence in Tarascon was placed into judicial liquidation on 29 July
- A 15 September inspection found around 17,000 tonnes of wood plus hazardous products still present at the Tarascon site, prompting ADEME to take over emergency safety work
- EUR 2m loan under the Economic and Social Development Fund (FDES) formalised by decree published 20 September 2026, extending operations to 15 December 2026
- Rescue consortium for Saint-Gaudens now identified as including insulation maker Soprema and a Portuguese paper manufacturer
- Saint-Gaudens produces about 280,000 tonnes of paper pulp a year and employs 244 people