Press Release: Antitrust: Commission fines aluminium fluoride producers € 4.97 million for price fixing cartel

The European Commission imposed fines of €4 970 000 on aluminium fluoride producers for colluding to fix prices in violation of the ban on cartels and restrictive business practices in the EC Treaty (Article 81) and the EEA Agreement (Article 53). Aluminium fluoride is a chemical used to lower the smelting temperature of aluminium. It thereby reduces energy consumption in the smelting process. Fines were imposed on Fluorsid S.p.A. (Italy), Minmet Financing Company S.A. (Switzerland), Société des Industries Chimique du Fluor (Tunisia), Industrial Quimica de Mexico S.A. de C.V. and Q.B. Industrias S.A.B. de C.V. (both Mexico). During the second half of 2000, the companies agreed worldwide target prices and divided markets. The company Boliden Odda (Norway) received full immunity from fines under the Commission’s 2002 Leniency Programme, as they were first to provide information about the cartel.

European Commission: MEMO/08/434: Commission proposal for a Regulation on a Statute for a European Private Company: Frequently Asked Questions http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/434&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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