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Eurofer Notifies EC on Possible Anticompetitive Practices Related to Seaborne Iron Ore Market
04/01/2010 - Eurofer has formally notified the European Commission (EC) about possible anticompetitive practices and abuse of dominant position by the main iron ore suppliers.
Eurofer has formally notified the European Commission (EC) about possible anticompetitive practices and abuse of dominant position by the main iron ore suppliers.
Eurofer says that strong indications of illicit coordination of price increases and pricing models and pressure on individual steel producers to accept these changes indicate that EU competition rules, notably art. 101 and art. 102, may have been breached.
“As stated by Eurofer already the prices increases of 80-100% demanded by iron ore producers do not reflect the realities of the steel market and cannot be justified by demand conditions for iron ore,” said Gordon Moffat, Director General of Eurofer. ”That is why we are calling upon the Commission, as regulator, to examine closely what is happening among iron ore suppliers.”
Eurofer has already indicated to the EC its concern at the very high level of concentration on the seaborne iron ore market, which is dominated by three producers (BHPB, Rio Tinto, and Vale), and therefore the unacceptability of the proposed joint venture between BHPB and Rio Tinto.
Eurofer—the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries—represents the interests of 60 steel companies and national steel federations from 23 EU Member States which combined account for almost 100% of EU steel production.
