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The Competition Commission said it has received a Corporate Leniency Policy (CLP) application pursuant to the raids.
The CLP applicant confirmed the existence of a cartel among competitors for reinforcing bar (rebar), wire rod, sections (rounds and squares, angles and profiles), roofing bolts and fencing products (including droppers), it said in a statement.
According to information submitted by the leniency applicant, discussions and meetings took place between the parties where agreements were reached to fix prices, exchange price lists and fix discounts, the Competition Commission said.
The information received by the Commission also indicates that parties allocated customers by agreeing on which customers to supply for various long steel products, and shared commercially sensitive information through SAISI.
The information submitted to the Commission further suggests that the alleged conduct affected the allocation of work to some major construction projects in the country, it added.
"These steel products are critical in the infrastructure sector, which has been identified as a priority area by the Commission and as a key driver of government's Asgisa programme," the Commissioner, Shan Ramburuth, said.
Documents in the possession of the Commission also indicate the existence of collusive agreements and arrangements that various steel suppliers reached in the pricing and purchases of scrap metal.
These include agreements on standard pricing formula to be used in determining the purchase price of scrap and the allocation of scrap metal among the major consumers.
The CLP is one tool which is increasingly being used by the Competition Commission, and other international competition authorities, to encourage firms to confess their involvement in cartel activities and to assist in identifying and prosecuting other cartel members. In return a CLP applicant is offered total or partial immunity from prosecution, it added.
-I-Net Bridge
