Bleaching chemical cartel fined

Published: 4-Jun-2006


The European Commission has fined seven companies €388m for forging a bleaching chemical cartel which raised prices for customers, including the cosmetics and detergent sectors. The cartel swapped important commercially confidential information, limited production, allocated market shares and customers, while fixing and monitoring prices for hydrogen peroxide (HP) and perborate (PBS) from 1994 to 2000. HP is widely used to bleach hair, while PBS helps make synthetic detergents.

Akzo Nobel, Edison, FMC/Foret, Kemira, Snia, Solvay and Total/Elf Aquitaine/Arkema will pay the fines, with Belgum-based Solvay being

hardest hit by a €167m penalty. Germany's Degussa also participated but escaped fines by alerting the Commission to the cartel. Partcipant Air Liquide left the sector in 1998 so also avoided a penalty.

EU competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented: "Cartels are unacceptable corporate behaviour. These high fines take into account that certain companies are repeat offenders." The cartel members can appeal at the European Court of Justice.

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