Antitrust inspects NLMK, IMH, others over possible price fixing

MOSCOW, Aug 26 (PRIME) -- The Federal Antimonopoly Service is checking Russia’s producers of reinforcement bars, including Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK), Industrial Metallurgical Holding (IMH) Novostal-M and Tulachermet-Stal, for possible price-fixing agreement that triggered a price rise, the service said in a statement on Thursday.

“There is data at the disposal of the service that may point to the signs of a price-fixing agreement, the consequence of which is the growth and support of sales prices for reinforcement bars. The service previously monitored prices following complaints about the growth of prices for metals filed by citizens and companies,” the statement read.

The service discovered that the prices for reinforcement bars in Russia jumped by more than 50% on the year in 2021. One of the reasons that metals companies mentioned was higher prices on foreign markets. At the same time, the service registered an increase of domestic prices while the external indicators were contracting, which shows possible signs of price fixing by the largest producers, the service said.

The inspections will show whether the service needs to launch an antimonopoly case against the companies.

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