en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Korea's "Special Act on Enhancing the Competitiveness of the Steel Industry and Transitioning to Carbon Neutrality" (K-Steel Act) has been officially implemented. The Act stipulates that steel companies approved for restructuring may, upon receiving approval from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Fair Trade Commission, be exempt from the restrictions of the "Fair Trade Act" and exceptionally engage in cooperative activities such as production reduction, shipment adjustment, joint production, procurement, and research and development. This measure aims to address the increasingly fierce competition for scrap steel resources during the low-carbon transition process.

During the corporate restructuring process, after reporting to the Fair Trade Commission, companies may exchange operational information such as equipment utilization rates, production capacity, and profits and losses, as well as non-public information involved in merger and acquisition due diligence. Such information exchange is not subject to regulations on collusion, and the threshold for applying this exemption clause is relatively low.

The aforementioned exemption clause applies not only to actions taken after the law takes effect but also retroactively to relevant actions taken after January 1, 2025. Whether it can actually be applied ultimately depends on the company's approval and the review results of the Fair Trade Commission. The validity period of the relevant special provisions is tentatively set until the end of 2028, with the possibility of extension depending on circumstances, aiming to provide maximum policy support for the initial phase of structural adjustment and low-carbon transition in South Korea's steel industry.

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