German Regulator Fines Steel Companies EUR205 Million in Price-Fixing Probe

   By Max Bernhard 
 

Germany's Federal Cartel Office said Thursday that it imposed fines totaling about 205 million euros ($240.1 million) on six stainless-steel companies for price fixing and exchanging sensitive information.

The proceedings follow a leniency application by Austria's Voestalpine AG (VOE.VI), which will not be fined, the regulator said.

Voestalpine confirmed its involvement in the proceedings, saying it discovered violations in routine audits and subsequently disclosed them to the German regulator. "The employees mainly involved no longer work at Voestalpine Group," it said, adding that board members weren't involved or aware of these violations.

The German competition watchdog said it fined German ArcelorMittal (MT.FR) subsidiary ArcelorMittal Commercial Long Deutschland GmbH, as well as Doerrenberg Edelstahl GmbH, Kind & Co. Edelstahlwerke GmbH & Co.KG, Saarstahl AG, Schmidt + Clemens GmbH + Co. KG, and Zapp Precision Metals GmbH.

An industry association and ten people were also fined, while four other companies and one association are still under investigation, the cartel office said.

Write to Max Bernhard at [e-mail]; @mxbernhard

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2018 06:21 ET (10:21 GMT)

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