Ascoval will not shift production from France to Germany

PARIS (Reuters) -German steelmaker Saarstahl, owner of France's Ascoval steel plant, confirmed on Friday it will not shift part of the site production to Germany, a move it had been pondering to cope with soaring energy prices.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said earlier on his Twitter account that the future of the plant, whose electric furnace had become costly due to the sharp rise of electricity prices, was guaranteed.

On Thursday, Le Maire had ruled out shifting production of the plant to Germany in a bid to cut down on its electricity bill, a move the unions had voiced concern over.

"During recent weeks, the company has had talks with clients, suppliers and staff to review various options," Saarstahl said in a statement.

"Those talks have been, in full cooperation with French authorities, successfully finalised (...) the idea of a temporary shift of volumes has been abandoned", the company added.

Ascoval, bought earlier this year by Saarstahl, is located in Saint-Saulve, northern France, and employs 300 people.

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel Writing Benoit Van OverstraetenEditing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Mark Potter)