Japanese Fair Trade Commission warns steel makers

Japanese Fair Trade Commission warns steel makers

Japanese steel makers are under investigation with respect to a possibility of price fixing. Japan's anti-monopoly watchdog Fair Trade Commission has warned the steel makers against a price fixing, resulting in inflated price levels in the domestic market. The related steel companies under suspicion are Nippon Steel Corp., Kawasaki Steel Corp., Nisshin Steel Co., Nippon Yakin Kogyo Co., Nippon Metal Industry Co. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. for fixing the price of stainless steel sheets domestically. According to reports from the industry, such speculations that the prices of this product are kept artificially high, have been going around in the market for some time.