FRANCE — The restructuring of Fibre Excellence has entered a new phase, with the Saint-Gaudens pulp mill granted additional time to develop a takeover plan while the French state has stepped in to address safety and environmental risks at the liquidated Tarascon site. The Toulouse Commercial Court on September 15 granted Fibre Excellence Saint-Gaudens a further three months to continue operating, extending the deadline to December 15. Potential buyers now have until October 22 to submit a new takeover proposal, with the court expected to examine the offer at a hearing on November 3. The decision follows a new proposal submitted in August by the Occitanie Regional Agency for Strategic Investments working with industrial partners including Soprema. The project is intended to preserve the Saint-Gaudens mill while diversifying activities at the site. The mill, which has annual pulp production capacity of around 280,000 tonnes.