The European Commission has imposed total fines of over €83 million on certain Italian rebar producers following the readoption of a decision on a cartel in the concrete reinforcing bar sector in Italy.
In 2002, the European Commission made an affirmative decision regarding the existence of a cartel in the sector in question during the period from December 1989 to May 2000; however, the decision was suspended by the European Court in October 2007 due to a technical mistake.
The total amount of fines decided is €83.25 million. The producers fined include Acciai, Ferriere Nord, Feralpi, IRO, Leali, Riva Fire, Ferriera Valsabbia and Lucchini (Severstal). According to the European Commission's determination, these eight companies used to control a 30 percent market share in Italy in 1989, whereas by 2000 their market share had increased to 80 percent, with 30 competitors disappearing in this eleven-year period.
Commenting on the decision, EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes stated, "The EU Commission intends to send a clear message that companies participating in the cartel cannot be exonerated from their responsibility, even though the fine was previously suspended due to a technical mistake."
Meanwhile, speaking to SteelOrbis, Italian steel producers' association Federacciai strongly criticized the move by the European Commission. Federacciai director Flavio Bregant declared "We are very surprised by and annoyed at this decision. The issue regards alleged facts of 10 years ago and these companies had been repaid the money they had been fined. Today, the same accusations are back and this is particularly bad and paradoxical: precisely at a very difficult moment in a crisis period, when governments are working to find resources to help industries, the EU Commission again brings up an old accusation with very high fines. This is likely to seriously compromise the recovery of companies in a very important sector for the whole economy such as the steel industry. At this point, Federacciai will evaluate - with all of its associated companies - all means of opposition."