South Africa’s Competition Commission has found, following an investigation, no evidence of excessive steel pricing by steel group Iscor, commission spokesperson Karin Coode said on Wednesday.
The investigation followed complaints by South African gold miners Harmony Gold and Durban Roodepoort Deep, the Conveyor Manufacturers Association of South Africa and Volkswagen South Africa.
As a result of the finding, the Competition Commission won’t refer the matter to the Competition Tribunal.
“The complainants now have the alternative to pursue the matter further, at their own cost, by referring it to the Competition Tribunal,” Coode said.
If the Competition Commission had found evidence to back up the plaintiffs’ complaints, it would have referred the matter to the Competition Tribunal at the competition authority’s cost.
In its most recent financial year, Iscor, Africa’s largest steel marketer, produced 7,1-million tons of liquid steel of which half was exported and the rest sold to industrial consumers in South Africa. — I-Net Bridge