Brussels  - The European Union is targeting a number of companies that supply the steel and gas industries with crucial chemicals in an ongoing antitrust probe, officials confirmed Friday.

The EU's executive, the European Commission, has sent a so-called "statement of objections" to a number of companies that produce calcium carbide and magnesium powder, on suspicion that they could be operating a price-fixing cartel, a commission statement said.

The statement lists the reasons the commission has for suspecting that the companies in question are breaking EU rules. The companies have the right to reply in writing, setting out their case, the statement said.

The move comes after the commission in January 2007 launched surprise inspections on several companies supplying the two products in Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Slovenia. Commission officials have not released the companies' names.

If the companies are found guilty of price-fixing, the commission has the right to impose fines. Penalties in prior cartel cases have run to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Steel producers use the products to purify and strengthen steel, while the gas industry uses calcium carbide to produce acetylene - a gas used both in metal-cutting and in plastics production. (dpa)