Press Release: Antitrust: Commission fines marine hose producers € 131 million for market sharing and price-fixing cartel

The European Commission imposed a total of € 131 510 000 fines on five groups – Bridgestone, Dunlop Oil & Marine/Continental, Trelleborg, Parker ITR and Manuli – for participating in a cartel for marine hoses between 1986 and 2007 in violation of the ban on cartels and restrictive business practices in the EC Treaty (Article 81) and the EEA Agreement (Article 53). Yokohama also participated in the cartel but was not fined because it revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission. Marine hoses are used to transport crude oil to and from ships for transportation from production sites. The cartel members fixed prices for marine hoses, allocated bids and markets and exchanged commercially sensitive information. The fines for Bridgestone and Parker ITR were increased by 30% because of their leadership of the cartel. Manuli was granted a 30% reduction of its fine for its cooperation with the investigation under the Commission's leniency programme.

European Commission: MEMO/09/32: Antitrust: Commission action against cartels – Questions and answers http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/32&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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