EU accuses chemical producers of fixing the price of industrial bleach
BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU regulators said Thursday they had charged makers of an industrial bleach with illegal price-fixing.
They said they had sent a formal charge sheet accusing a number of companies that made sodium chlorate of running a cartel. The chemical is mainly used as a bleaching agent in the pulp and paper sector.
Finlands Kemira Oyj said it had received and would examine charges for its subsidiary, Finnish Chemicals Oy which it bought in 2005. It said the unit was accused of antitrust abuse from 1994 to 2000.
Dutch-based Akzo Nobel NV confirmed that it had also been sent the EUs “statement of objections.”
Akzo was fined \84.4 million ($110 million) in 2005 for taking part in a cartel for MCAA, a chemical used to produce detergents, food and cosmetics. Last year, it had to pay up another \25 million for a cartel involving hydrogen peroxide, a chemical bleach and detergent.
The company confirmed in January that it was cooperating in another EU investigation into a suspected cartel for calcium carbide, used in the chemical and steel industries.
The European Commission never names the companies it suspects in cartel cases until it takes a final decision on their guilt, levying fines of up to 10 percent of global annual turnover that can run to hundreds of millions of euros.
Businesses have two months to respond in writing and can seek an oral hearing to defend themselves.
