The European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) has deemed Brazilian iron ore giant Vale's calls on the European Commission to investigate EUROFER "an absurd attempt by Vale to divert attention from legitimate concerns expressed by consumers."
EUROFER director general Gordon Moffat added, "I'm sure the Commission will see it as such."
As SteelOrbis previously reported, on March 30 EUROFER announced that it had formally notified the European Commission about possible anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominant position by the main iron ore suppliers.
According to the statement, strong indications of illicit coordination of price increases and pricing models and pressure on individual steel producers to accept these changes indicate in EUROFER's view that the EU competition rules, notably articles No. 101 and No. 102, may have been breached.
In response, on April 6 Vale called on the European Commission to investigate EUROFER instead. In a press release, Vale stated it has notified the European Commission about its concerns that EUROFER members themselves may have breached certain competition rules, while denying the allegations made by EUROFER against it.