The European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (Eurofer) has deemed Brazilian iron ore giant Vale’s calls on the European Commission to investigate Eurofer ‘an absurd attempt by Vale to divert attention from legitimate concerns expressed by consumers.’
Eurofer director general Gordon Moffat said: “I’m sure the Commission will see it as such."
On Tuesday last week Eurofer said it had formally notified the European Commission about possible anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominant position by the main iron ore suppliers.
It said that strong indications of illicit coordination of price increases and pricing models and pressure on individual steel producers to accept these changes indicated that the EU competition rules, notably articles No. 101 and No. 102, may have been breached.
In response Vale called on the European Commission to investigate Eurofer instead. Vale stated it had notified the European Commission about its concerns that Eurofer members may have breached certain competition rules, while denying the allegations made by Eurofer against it.