Brazilian anti-trust body CADE has decided to approve again without restrictions the sale of Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem (CSP) to ArcelorMittal, after the approval was blocked a month ago following complaints by Usiminas.
According to CADE, the risks mentioned by Usiminas for the suspension of the sale have proved groundless, following the evaluation by its board.
Usiminas had mentioned the closure of the market and increased costs for the competition, among the reasons for the revaluation of the authorization of the sale.
According to analysts, the main argument for the final authorization was the fact that Usiminas was trying to obtain a fixed quota of the slab produced by CSP, as if it were a shareholder of the company, which is currently controlled by Vale (30 percent), Dongkuk (30 percent) and Posco (20 percent).
Since having closed the slab production of its Cubatão plant in 2016, Usiminas has outsourced part of the slab to feed its rolling operations, including at Cubatao, with the supply from CSP, Ternium and from imports. It is estimated that today CSP responds for 30 percent of the Usiminas requirements of slab.
In a statement, ArcelorMittal mentioned that, until the final closure of the acquisition, Pecem will maintain its operations as usual.
