Russia-based hot-rolled coil (HRC) producers have revealed their disagreement with the preliminary decision previously announced by Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) regarding the mills “maintaining monopolistically high prices for hot-rolled flat products since January 2021.”
On December 29, 2021, a FAS committee presented a report on the earlier announced case against three local HRC producers, stating that the mills were setting and supporting monopolistically high HRC prices in the local market, specifically in comparison to export levels. It was also revealed that, starting from January 21 last year, Severstal, MMK and NLMK increased their hot-rolled prices to a far larger extent as compared to the increase seen in their production cost levels. According to FAS, the actions of the mills, who dominate the local Russian market, may limit fair competition in the related markets.
All three producers have protested the FAS preliminary conclusions regarding the case. In particular, MMK said it considers these to be unfounded and inconsistent with the facts on the ground. In addition, the mill stated that the flats market remains volatile and that the prices levels are a result of the market conditions, but not the actions of unfair competition. Severstal, in its turn, stated regarding FAS’ conclusion on its prices for the Russian market is that the export prices were not accurate and cannot be used as grounds for making accusations. “We believe that the committee’s conclusion is not objective and is against the law,” the company’s representative said. NLMK made a statement saying that it “is studying the case materials and continues to stand on its position within the frame of the investigation, and is ready to go to the court if needed.”
The participants in the case are welcome to submit their arguments to the FAS committee. The next session is scheduled for January 20, 2022, regarding MMK and Severstal, and for January 21 for NLMK.