As gas lines to blast furnaces at a small-town plant are gradually cut off on Wednesday, it marks not just the end of an era, but for many workers, a "broken promise" by French President Francois Hollande. The ArcelorMittal-owned Florange plant, in the heart of the northeastern Lorraine region, has become a symbol for the dismantlement of France's industrial sector, from which 750,000 jobs have disappeared over the past decade.

France's new state-backed investment bank BPI said Wednesday it chose not to help save a refinery and steel mill, the closures of which has been considered a failure of government efforts to save the nation's industrial base. The BPI looked into possible efforts to revive production at a mill owned by steel-giant Arcelor Mittal "we would have lost a lot of money and it wouldn't have been good business," said the bank's director Nicolas Dufourcq. Arcelor Mittal announced last week that it would begin shutting down the blast furnaces at its Florange facility.

ArcelorMittal on Tuesday pledged to suspend closures and job cuts in Europe pending the launch of a pan-Europe plan in June to save the struggling steel industry, the European Commission said Tuesday. EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani quoted a letter from the global steel giant as saying "there will be no more cuts" at its plants in Europe that employ 98,000 people until the launch of the plan. In its own statement, ArcelorMittal confirmed "that no new restructuring plan is envisaged other than what is already announced and being implemented."

ArcelorMittal on Tuesday pledged to suspend closures and job cuts in Europe pending the launch of a pan-Europe plan in June to save the struggling steel industry, the EU said Tuesday. EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani quoted a letter just received from the global steel giant as saying "there will be no more cuts" at its plants in Europe that employ 98,000 people until the launch of the plan. The EU executive last week asked ArcelorMittal to suspend the closure of several sites pending the plan but the company initially declined.