German regulator raids ArcelorMittal, Voestalpine offices over price fixing

Two European steelmakers ArcelorMittal and Voestalpine AG late last week said that their offices in Germany were last month raided by the country's antitrust regulator over alleged price fixing of steel supplied to the German auto industry.

Without naming any companies, the German Federal Cartel Office had last month said that it had searched the offices in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia of three steelmakers over alleged anticompetitive agreements between market participants relating to specific steel supplies to the automotive industry in Germany.

German steel maker ThyssenKrupp had at that time acknowledged that its office in Duisburg was raided but the names of the other two European steelmakers were still in the dark until Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and Vienna-based Voestalpine late last week acknowledged that their offices had also been raided.

ArcelorMittal , the world's largest steel producer, said that it is co-operating with the regulator on the ongoing probe, while Voestalpine said that it supports the investigation of the authority.

Dr Heinrich Hiesinger, chairman of the executive board of ThyssenKrupp, said, ''ThyssenKrupp employs a zero tolerance policy and if the allegations are substantiated in the ongoing investigations, we will take rigorous action.''