The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced on Sept. 9 that it imposed steelmakers a combined 119 billion won (US$106 million) in fines on Hyundai Steel Co. and five other steelmakers for colluding to fix prices of reinforcement products, which are widely used in construction.
The nation's antitrust watchdog also said it plans to lodge a complaint with the prosecution against five steelmakers, including Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel.
They rigged prices over 12 occasions between May 2015 and December 2016 in order to buttress their earnings amid a rise in imports from China, the FTC said.
Analyst said that the six companies' combined share in the local steel reinforcement market is above 80 percent, which means that their collusion had a significant impact on the product price.
Hyundai Steel topped the list with the fine of 41.7 billion won, followed by Dongkuk Steel with a fine of 30.2 billion won and KISCO with 17.5 billion won.
The domestic price of steel bars will be decided on the "basic price" set during the quarterly negotiation based on raw materials and prices of steel by Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel, representatives of the steel industry, and a group of construction companies.
In 2015, the construction economy turned around, but the price of steel remained low as imports of steel from China increased and prices of scrap iron dropped.
