ArcelorMittal South Africa 2007 Sustainability Report Page 14 In order to ensure the sustainability of the steel industry, and therefore its business, ArcelorMittal South Africa recognises the importance of providing the downstream industry with the best quality product at a fair price. Managing our impact in the marketplace The process of achieving this requires constant engagement with customers and knowledge of best practices around the globe. While pricing has been the most prominent issue in 2007, managing our total impact in the marketplace, sustainably, raises broader issues too, such as those of transformation through enterprise development and product stewardship. These have been identified through engagement with various stakeholders, including government, the Competition Commission which acts as a watchdog on competition issues and independent watchdog groups, the media and local communities who have highlighted the need to ensure responsible management of the waste and by-products from our operations. Identifying the most material issues The most material issues relating to ArcelorMittal South Africa’s impact in the marketplace can therefore be summarised as follows: Pricing: Steel products need to be priced in such a way as to make them accessible to as many customers as possible. The matter of ArcelorMittal South Africa’s pricing was brought before the Competition Tribunal, which issued its finding on the matter in March 2007. The section below on pricing deals with this issue and outlines the company’s position on pricing. Enterprise development: The revised DTI Codes of Good Practice highlight the importance for established companies to help grow both upstream and downstream black-owned enterprises. Our efforts in growing an empowered upstream supplier base are dealt with in the chapter entitled Securing Our Supply Chain, while our downstream development efforts with regard to B-BBEE is outlined in this report. Product stewardship: Companies have a responsibility to ensure that their products do not cause harm to people or the environment. In the case of ArcelorMittal South Africa’s products, the most pressing issues in this regard are recycling and the management of waste and by-products. Pricing The finding of the South African Competition Tribunal Following its finding on 27 March 2007 that ArcelorMittal South Africa had “contravened the Competition Act by charging an excessive price for its flat products to the detriment of domestic consumers”, the South African Competition Tribunal imposed on the company a fine of R692 million and ordered remedies aimed at reducing the segmentation that the Tribunal found had been created in the market for flat steel products. It is the Tribunal’s view that the structure of price rebates and the joint venture with Macsteel International ensures that local flat steel prices could be maintained at excessively high levels. While the Tribunal notes that ArcelorMittal South Africa engaged extensively with the South African authorities (the DTI) to develop an acceptable pricing model, it contends that the company was able to use its alleged “super-dominant”