Pacific Steel Group vs. Commercial Metals Company et al

Case Background

On October 30, 2020, Plaintiff Pacific Steel Group filed a Antitrust lawsuit in the United States District Court, California Northern (Case number: 4:20cv7683). This case was assigned to District Judge Haywood S Gilliam, Jr. and referred to Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore.

Cause

Pacific Steel Group (PSG), established in San Diego in 2014, encountered systematic anticompetitive practices in the steel reinforcing bar (rebar) manufacturing and fabrication markets. Commercial Metals Company (CMC), a dominant player in rebar manufacturing, orchestrated a series of actions through its subsidiaries, CMC Rebar and CMC Steel US, along with Gerdau Reinforcing Steel (GRS), to prevent PSG's market expansion. The case centered on the crucial rebar manufacturing and Furnish-and-Install markets across California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The conflict escalated when PSG planned to construct California's first state-of-the-art rebar micro mill. In response, CMC formed an exclusionary agreement with Danieli Corporation, the world’s sole experienced manufacturer of continuous-feed reinforcing steel rebar micro mills. This agreement blocked any competitor from acquiring Danieli’s micro mill technology within a 500-mile radius of Rancho Cucamonga, California, for 69 months. This deal disrupted the rebar manufacturing market, effectively stifling new technological advancements and competition in the region.

Injuries

The anticompetitive conduct created significant barriers to entry in the rebar manufacturing sector. PSG lost its opportunity to achieve vertical integration, which would ha