Brazil’s anti-trust authority Cade has fined Aperam at BRL 5.5 million for abusing from its dominant position within the nation’s stainless steel market, according to media reports.
Aperam allegedly offered “economic advantages” to its Amib Servicos distributor in spite of its competitors, according to reports. Among the advantages offered by Aperam in Brazil were linear discounts, the fixation of volumes that could be purchased by competitors with the aim of making it hard to import stainless steel and refusal to sell its products to competitors by imposing abusive conditions to independent distributors.
Cade and Aperam signed an agreement in which Aperam recognized the unfair practices and agreed to terminate until the next nine months all contracts with its distributors, so the contracts could be adjusted to the new rules, which exclude the discounts.