Brussels, 15/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced that it has carried out surprise inspections at the premises of several producers of copper concentrate (an intermediary product for processing into a finished product) in the United Kingdom and Portugal, together with the national competition authorities. It added that the Canadian and American authorities are simultaneously conducting enquiries in this sector. The aim is to see whether there are illegal practises concerning an understanding on sales prices and conditions, and any sharing of clientele and markets. The Commission has not named the suspected companies, out of respect for their right to confidentiality, but the agency Reuters has indicated that the Portuguese company Somincor and the UK companies BHP Billinton and Rio Tinto have confirmed that they are being investigated. The names of the other companies, apparently fewer than ten in number, remain unknown. It is worth noting that the Commission has been conducting an enquiry into the copper sector for the last two years. On 22 March 2001, surprise inspections were carried out at the premises of five companies in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Finland, due to a possible pricing agreement in the copper tubes sector.