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The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) Initiated Administrative Proceedings to Investigate Possible Anticompetitive Conduct by the Retail Fuel and Lubricants Trade Union of the Federal District (Sindicombustíveis-DF). The Aim is to Investigate Alleged Promotion of Uniform Conduct Among Competing Fuel Resellers.
In a statement, Cade said that the action, led by the General Superintendence (SG) of the agency, will also investigate the union president, Paulo Roberto Correa Tavares, due to the statements published by Sindicombustíveis-DF regarding the need for increases in automotive fuel prices charged by reselling stations located in the Federal District.
The statements made in the proceedings refer to declarations by the union president over the last three years. In the proceedings, Cade discusses anticompetitive conduct, as the leader specified the values he expected to be charged by reselling stations due to cost increases or other factors.
Additionally, communications made by Sindicombustíveis-DF to reselling stations that possibly led the union members to increase fuel prices to the amounts set by the organization will also be investigated.
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Regarding the investigation, Cade pointed out that “it acknowledges the importance of the role of unions in organizing and representing their respective categories, but emphasizes that, in a free market regime and with price freedom, it is not the role of unions to guide the resale market on how to price automotive fuel sales, as it is up to each economic agent operating in the fuel resale market to make its own decisions regarding its commercial policy.”
Cade Approves Purchase of CSP by ArcelorMittal
The General Superintendence of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) approved the concentration act involving ArcelorMittal Brazil S.A and the Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP), which belongs to the economic groups Vale, Posco, and Dongkuk. The decision was made on the 11th of last month, and the approval is already published in the Official Gazette.
The action consists of the purchase, by ArcelorMittal, of 100% of the shares of Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém, currently managed by Vale, Dongkuk, and Posco. Initially announced in July 2022, the deal has a final price of US$2.2 billion.
According to Cade’s statement, ArcelorMittal justified the purchase of CSP to expand its global production capacity for steel plates, especially due to CSP’s excellent strategic location, 10 km from the Port of Pecém in Ceará. This will make it easier to ensure exports to the world’s main steel-producing regions.
Additionally, ArcelorMittal argued that it aims to expand its capacity to produce flat-rolled steels in Brazil while leveraging CSP’s potential to produce steel plates with lower environmental impacts, especially due to the capacity for solar and wind energy generation in Ceará.
Being a global steel powerhouse, ArcelorMittal is present in 160 countries and has over 190,000 employees. In Brazil, the company is present in six states and, with the purchase of CSP, broadens its operations in another region of the country.
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