Germany fines steelmakers 646m euros for price fixing

Germany’s antitrust watchdog on Thursday said it had issued a  646-million euro ($720 million) fine against three steel manufacturers  and three individuals for fixing prices for plate steel.        

The Federal Cartel Office said Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Steel  Europe, Salzgitter-owned Ilsenburger Grobblech and Austria’s Voestalpine  Grobblech had admitted to the accusations and accepted the penalties.

At regular meetings between 2002 and 2016, representatives  from the companies “agreed on the most important price supplements and  surcharges for specific quarto plates in Germany,” Andreas Mundt,  president of the cartel office, said in a statement.

According to the competition body, the add-on prices agreed  by the steel producers “accounted for around 20-25 percent of the total  price of quarto plates” over the period.

Quarto plates are hot-rolled flat steel products used in shipbuilding, bridges, wind turbines and pipelines.

A fourth company,  Dillinger Huettenwerke, was also involved in the cartel but escaped  punishment because it was the first to cooperate with the investigation.

Voestalpine Grobblech likewise cooperated with Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, and saw its fine reduced accordingly.