EU cuts steelmaker cartel fines for second time

(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission cut on Monday, for the second time since June last year, fines issued to a cartel of steelmakers led by global leader ArcelorMittal.

The total amount of fines imposed on 17 companies judged to have fixed markets between 1984 and 2002 was reduced last October from 518 million euros ($736 million at current exchange rates) to 458 million.

On Monday, commission competition services announced another "correction," dropping the total amount to 269 million -- with ArcelorMittal the main beneficiary.

It now has to pay just 45.7 million, as against 276 million when the cartel's penalties were first announced in Brussels.

Commission anti-trust spokeswoman Amelia Torres told AFP the sums were reduced because ArcelorMittal subsidiaries could not pay and that the parent company was not legally bound to do so itself.

The prestressing steel producers were found guilty of fixing prices in markets for "long, curled steel wires used with concrete in construction sites to make foundations, balconies or bridges."