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South Korean Steelmakers Fined US$273 Million for Price Fixing

Posco, Hyundai Hysco Co. and five other South Korean steelmakers were fined a combined 291.7 billion won (US$273 million) for fixing the price of some products, according to the country’s antitrust body.
The companies colluded to boost prices of cold-rolled steel plates, galvanized steel sheets and color steel sheets in the domestic market during the six years to 2010, the Fair Trade Commission said in an e-mailed statement on 29 December 2012.
Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, and unit Posco Specialty Steel Co. were fined 117.6 billion won, the largest penalty. Hyundai Hysco, a unit of South Korea’s biggest automaker, was asked to pay 75.3 billion won, the commission said.
“It’s not true to say we collude to fix prices,” Posco said in a text message to Bloomberg. “We will file an administrative litigation to prove our innocence...”
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