Prosecutors Seek Arrest Warrants for Executives of 7 Major Steelmakers in 6 Trillion Won Rebar Price-Fixing Case

Entrance of Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-gu, Seoul / Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution investigating the '6 trillion won steel rebar cartel suspicion' has requested arrest warrants for executives and employees of the seven major domestic steel manufacturers.

The Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop) announced on the 28th that it had requested preliminary arrest warrants for seven executives and employees of the seven major steel manufacturers who were actively involved in the cartel, on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act.

The seven companies?Hyundai Steel, Dongkuk Steel, Daehan Steel, Korea Steel, YK Steel, Hwanyeong Steel Industry, and Korea Steelworks?are suspected of prearranging the winning quantities and bid prices in annual unit price contract bids for steel rebar ordered by the Public Procurement Service from 2012 to 2018. The scale of the cartel amounts to approximately 6.8442 trillion won, the largest in the history of Public Procurement Service government bids.

They are investigated to have colluded on the winning quantities and bid prices based on past Public Procurement Service contract volumes for 130 to 150 tons of steel rebar annually ordered regularly by the Public Procurement Service for public institutions. Earlier, in August, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a total fine of 256.5 billion won on them and reported the seven steel manufacturers' corporations and nine current and former employees to the prosecution.