Rebars
are pictured at Kalisch Steel factory in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico March 27, 2018.
Picture taken March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez Purchase Licensing Rights
July 1 (Reuters) - Steel rebar giant Commercial Metals (CMC.N) must face an antitrust lawsuit that
accuses it of sidelining a potential competitor by frustrating its efforts to
build a mill in Southern California, driving up rebar prices.
In a ruling unsealed on Friday, U.S. District
Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. in Oakland, California, denied a request from
Commercial Metals for summary judgment in the 2020 lawsuit from plaintiff
Pacific Steel.
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Gilliam’s order, which also denied Pacific Steel's summary
judgment request, sets the case on course for a trial later this month. Pacific
Steel has alleged that Commercial Metals' conduct caused rebar purchasers to
overpay by $50 million a year.
Irving, Texas-based Commercial Metals and San Diego-based
Pacific Steel did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Commercial Metals has denied any wrongdoing.