On March 30, the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) announced that it has formally notified the European Commission (EC) 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.
"As stated by EUROFER already, the prices increases of 80-100 percent demanded by iron ore producers do not reflect the realities of the steel market and cannot be justified by demand conditions for iron ore" says EUROFER director general Gordon Moffat, adding, "That is why we are calling upon the Commission, as regulator, to examine closely what is happening among iron ore suppliers."
EUROFER has already indicated to the European Commission its concern at the very high level of concentration on the seaborne iron ore market which is dominated by just three producers (BHP, Rio Tinto and Vale) and the unacceptability therefore of the proposed joint venture between BHP and Rio Tinto.