Memo: Competition: Commission welcomes judgments of the European Court of Justice in Seamless steel tubes cartel case

The European Commission welcomes the 25 January 2007 judgments by the European Court of Justice (Joined cases C-403/04 P and C-405/04 P, Case C-407/04 and Case C-411/04 P) dismissing in its entirety the appeals by Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd, Nippon Steel Corp, Dalmine SpA and Salzgitter Mannesmann GmbH, formerly Mannesmannröhren – Werke AG in respect of the seamless steel tubes cartel. The Court confirmed the existence of an illegal market sharing cartel and the participation of these companies in this cartel. Moreover, it confirmed the Commission's approach as regards the calculation of the fines imposed on the companies. The fines of the companies which have been reduced by the Court of First Instance (from initially €10,8 million to € 10,080 million for Dalmine SpA, from initially €13,5 million to €12,6 million for Salzgitter Mannesmann, from initially €13,5 million to €10,935 for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo respectively) were maintained by the Court. All four companies have to pay the Commission's cost of the appeals.