knofje schreef op 20 september 2017 17:51:
The German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) is investigating seven flat steel companies based in the country – including ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp – on suspicion of engaging in anti-competitive practices, Metal Bulletin understands.
Early-morning raids were made on August 22, 23 and 24 of this year at the sites of seven companies involved in the German flat steel industry, and at three private homes, a spokesman for the FCO, known as the Bundeskartellamt in German, told Metal Bulletin this week.
“The companies are suspected of having concluded anti-competitive agreements,” the spokesman said.
“A search is conducted to clarify the facts of a case and by no means implies that the companies, trade associations and persons concerned have actually committed an infringement of competition law,” he added.
“ArcelorMittal confirms that its German operations were visited by the Bundeskartellamt in August. ArcelorMittal is fully co-operating with the Bundeskartellamt enquiries,” a spokesman for that company said on Wednesday September 20.
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp is also being examined, Heinrich Hiesinger, the company’s ceo, said during a conference call on Wednesday.
“ThyssenKrupp is subject to investigations by the Bundeskartellamt,” he said. “We take these allegations seriously.”
He added that the investigations will have no effect on the formation of a European flat steel joint venture between ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel, for which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday.
Fellow German steelmaker Salzgitter was named by news agency Reuters in an article on September 12 as having been investigated, but the company did not respond to Metal Bulletin’s questions on the matter at the time of publication.
Austrian heavy plate
At the same time as the German flat steel investigations, probes are also being carried out in Austria’s heavy plate sector by the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (BWB), the Bundeskartellamt said.
Similar early-morning operations were carried out by the BWB on September 12 at the Bundeskartellamt’s request, the German regulatory office said, with two companies being searched.
One of the firms investigated on that day was Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine, according to the company.
“In the course of the current investigations by the German Federal Cartel Office against steel producers, an inspection in the office of Voestalpine in Linz [was] conducted for the German Federal Cartel Office,” Voestalpine said.
“The reason for the inspection [was] the suspicion of anti-competitive practices in the market for heavy plates,” it added.
ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik was fined more than €150 million ($180 million) in 2012-13 as part of an investigation into price-fixing on railway contracts, which also saw Voestalpine’s specialist rail division, BWG, fined more than €10 million.