NoL208/46 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 31.7.83
II
(Actswhosepublicationisnotobligatory)
COMMISSION
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSION
onmethodsofpricequotationandtransportcostsinconnectionwiththesaleofsteel
TheCommission mustthereforedrawtheattentionof
suchcompaniestothefollowingspecificpoints:Inthecommunications publishedon29December
1982(»),30March1983(2)and29April1983(3),the
Commissionmadepublicguidancepricesforthemain
steelproducts.Itconsidereditnecessarytoguidethe
interestedcompaniestowardslistpricelevelscapableof
yieldingrevenuessufficienttoenablethemtocontribute
towardstherestructuringneededinthesteelsectorand
tobeartheconsequences inthesocialandregional
sectors.1.Somecompanieswhichhavealignedtheirprices
withthelistpricesofanItalianmini-producer in
connectionwithasaleinanothercountryhaveused
thebasicpriceofthatproducerandhaveadded
theirownextrasortheextrasofaproducerinthe
destinationcountry.Theyhavefailedtoconsider
thehigherdimensionalextrascontainedintheprice
listusedinthealignment.Inseveralcasestheyhave
alsoappliedaninadequatecostoftransport.By
under-quoting theactualsupplypricewhichshould
derivefromthealignedpricelistssuchcompanies
areininfringementwiththeprovisionsofArticle60
anddecisionstakenforitsapplication .Ingeneraltermstheguidancepriceshavebeenclosely
adheredtobytheintegratedcompanieswhohave
drawnuptheirpricelistsatleastatthesamelevel.This
doesnotapplytotheelectricmini-millsandmore
particularlythoseintheNorthofItaly.Thesemillshave
maintainedlistpriceswhich,althoughatreasonable
levels,havecontinuedtoreflecttheproductioncosts
specifictomini-millsandtheconditionsontheregional
andeventhelocalmarket.Itmustalsobepointedout
thattheindividualproductionratesofthesesmall
manufacturers aresolowastoonlyhaveaslighteffect
onthemarketinmoredistantregionsofthe
Communityandthat,moreover,theirproductrangeis
limitedasregardsbothproductquantityandsize.
Duringthefirsthalfof1983theCommissionhasnoted
atendencybylargecompaniesaaligntheirsalesprices
withthelistpricesofamini-producer .2.UnderDecisionNo73/152/ECSCof23May
1973(4),steelcompaniessellingtheirproductsat
pointswithinthecommonmarketwhichinvolvethe
useofseatransportarerequiredtopublishsea
freightschedulesfortheirmaintraderoutes.The
Commissionthereforeconsidersthatcompanies
whichhavenotpublishedsuchfreightschedules
havedemonstrated theirlackofinterestinsalesat
thesepoints.
TheCommissiondeploressuchbehaviourwhichgives
risetounderbiddingandtorevenueslowerthansome
companies'productioncosts.SincethepricelistsoftheItalianmini-producers do
notincludeanysuchfreightschedules,theother
producersshouldrefrainfromaligningthemselves
withthesepricelistswheretheirowndestinations
implytheuseoftheseatransport.
(>)OJNoL370,29.12.1982.
(2)OJNoC92,7.4.1983.
(3)OJNoC116,29.4.1983. (<)OJNoL172,28.6.1973.

31.7.83 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunitiesNoL208/47
WhereappropriatetheCommissionwillalsotake
stepstopreventsalesinvolvingseatransportwhich
arechargedathislistpricebyanyproducerfailing
topublishthecorresponding seafreightschedules.Companymanagements areinvitedtodrawthe
attentionoftheirdepartmentstothecontentofthis
communication and,ingeneralterms,totherulesin
forceinthecommonmarketinordertoensurecorrect
implementation oftheTreaty.