JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -

Harmony Gold (HARJ.J: Quote) and DRDGOLD (DRDJ.J: Quote) said on Monday they had withdrawn an excessive pricing complaint against ArcelorMittal South Africa (ACLJ.J: Quote), a unit of the world's largest steel maker.

Shares in ArcelorMittal recovered on the news and were trading 0.87% down at R115 by 1217 GMT, after falling as much as 4%. ArcelorMittal in May won an appeal against a record fine of R691.8 million ($92.29 million) imposed on the company in September 2007 for charging excessively for flat steel products and preventing customers from selling on steel.

The case -- initially launched with the competition authorities in 2002 -- was then sent back to a tribunal for futher examination.

Harmony and DRDGOLD withdrew their complaint, which remained unresolved after several years of litigation, following the conclusion of a settlement agreement with ArcelorMittal, the companies said in a joint statement.

Harmony and DRDGOLD said the details of the settlement with ArcelorMittal South Africa would remain private.

The parties wish to focus on their respective core business activities, rather than pursue protracted and costly litigation of this matter, the steelmaker said in a separate statement.

The company is involved in another unresolved competition case in which it could be fined 10% of its annual revenue and exports for fixing prices with other companies. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak)

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