Duralex in the competition: will the state come to its aid again?

History repeats itself for Duralex. This Tuesday, April 16, the management of the famous glass factory La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin (Loiret), near Orléans, informed employees that they were going to file a request for receivership with the Orléans court, three years after taking over the management. at the head of this very jurisdiction.

Management explains that it had no choice but to make this decision and assures that “the goal is to find a buyer” and “find the best solution for the company.”

“It’s always the same music”

For the 230 employees of Duralex, known around the world for its heavy-duty cafeteria glasses, this is a heavy blow, especially since management promised them new projects three weeks earlier. “We experienced crisis after crisis: Covid, Ukraine, energy, inflation. The state helped us, but it was not enough. We no longer have markets,” says François Dufrand, a CGT trade unionist elected to the CSE.

For him, this decision evokes a sense of déjà vu. In his more than thirty years with the company, he has survived two judicial liquidations in the last fifteen years: the first in 2008 and the second in 2020, just before the glass factory was rescued at the last minute by its current owner, home of a French glass company , which also owns Pyrex in Châteauroux (Indre). “It’s always the same music, with different actors. But at least this time they didn’t wait for the trial, that’s something, they didn’t let the debts accumulate,” he adds fatalistically.

This decision was made almost the next day after Duralex was relaunched a year ago. His furnace was restarted in the presence of Industry Minister Roland Lescure after five months of inactivity. Suffocated by soaring energy prices, the company was forced to suspend production and received a government loan of 15 million euros to overcome the crisis.

Faced with these new difficulties, will the government once again come to the aid of Duralex? In a press release, the Industry Minister indicates that he will “do everything possible to find solutions to recovery” and asks stakeholders to mobilize with him.

The call was heard by the region and the metropolis of Orleans, which promised to find a solution that could support employment and activity.

The court will make a decision on the management’s petition on April 24.