Press Release: Antitrust: Commission fines synthetic rubber producers € 34.2 million for price fixing cartel

The European Commission imposed fines totalling € 34,230, 000 on the Bayer and Zeon groups for fixing prices for Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) in violation of the EC Treaty’s and the EEA Agreement’s ban on cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 81 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement). NBR is used mainly in car manufacturing for fuel and oil handling hoses, seals, o-rings and water handling applications. Between late 2000 and 2002, Bayer and Zeon managed to raise or otherwise stabilise prices through a series of meetings and other illicit contacts. Bayer's and Zeon's fines are reduced by 30% and 20%, respectively, because they co-operated with the investigation under the Commission's 2002 Leniency Notice (see IP/02/247 and MEMO/02/23). However Bayer's fine was increased by 50% because it had been fined for cartel activity in a previous Commission decision.

European Commission: MEMO/08/30: Competition: Commission action against cartels – Questions and answers http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/30&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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