Fording Coal Merger Passes Bureau Scrutiny

OTTAWA, April 15, 2003 — The Competition Bureau announced today that it will not challenge the combination of certain assets of the coal businesses of Fording Inc., Teck Cominco Ltd., Luscar Ltd. and CONSOL Energy Inc., in the thermal coal, metallurgical coal, and coal terminal port businesses in Canada.

After carefully examining the merger's impact on different aspects of the coal industry and obtaining input from customers, competitors and an independent industry expert, the Bureau has concluded that the consolidation will not likely result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the relevant markets:

• thermal coal industry - it was determined that the coal producers and their customers possess significant countervailing power over one another.
• metallurgical coal - although the majority of the product mined in Canada is exported overseas, the Bureau closely examined the impact on Canadian steelmaking customers and concluded that they will still have viable alternatives from the United States.
• coal terminal port business - the Bureau was satisfied that there exists significant excess capacity to handle future independent coal production as well as the incentive for the ports' shareholders not to restrict access to third parties.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that promotes and maintains fair competition so that all Canadians can benefit from competitive prices, product choice and quality service. It oversees the application of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Tim Weil
Senior Communications Advisor
Competition Bureau
819-953-9271 or 613-296-2189 (cell.)

For general enquiries, please contact:
Competition Bureau's Information Centre
819-997-4282 or toll-free 1-800-348-5358