South African steel giant Mittal Steel has contravened the Competition Act by charging excessive prices, the Competition Tribunal ruled on Tuesday.
It found that the company contravened section 8(a) of the Act by charging an excessive price for its flat steel products to the detriment of consumers.
The tribunal, however, dismissed a complaint that Mittal Steel contravened the Act by inducing its customers not to deal with a competitor.
The facts presented on the second matter were not satisfactory, the tribunal said.
”We would want to proceed with particular care on an inducement allegation.”
The tribunal postponed a decision on penalties for the company’s contravention.
It said it needed to hear further evidence in connection with the extent, if any, of the administrative penalty to be imposed.
Harmony Gold Mining Company and Durban Roodepoort Deep filed a complaint against Mittal Steel and Macsteel International Holdings BV.
Harmony alleged that Mittal South Africa was a dominant firm in the domestic market for flat primary steel products and that it had abused this dominance by charging, in contravention of the Competition Act, excessive prices for its flat steel products.
The complainants also claimed Mittal South Africa contravened the Act in that it required or induced customers to not deal with a competitor.
Mittal Steel expressed disappointment at the ruling.
The company, however, welcomed the dismissal of the complaint that it induced its customers not to deal with a competitor.
Mittal Steel chief executive Rick Reato said the company’s legal team would study the reasons for the judgement once it has received a copy from the tribunal.
”We currently are unable to comment further on the ruling until we have seen the reasons for the judgement. We believe however, that we have a strong legal case and will be considering our legal options,” Reato said. — Sapa