EU court reduces fines on steel producers

A European Union court has reduced fines on eight steel firms over price fixing.

The fine on the eight firms was cut by the European Court of First Instance by a total of €12.8m.

It ruled that the European Commission was “unable to produce evidence covering the entire duration of the infringement” when it imposed a fine of almost €100m back in 1999.

The case involved the use of steel tubes in the exploration and transport of oil and gas.

EU regulators found eight companies – including British steel firm Corus, Germany’s Mannesmannrohren-Werke, France’s Vallourec SA, Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries – had restricted competition by requiring they all respect each other’s domestic market.

The EU head office argued that while the so-called “Europe-Japan club” had met for the first time in 1977, the violations of competition rules had begun in 1990 and ceased five years later.