| Wed 30 Sep 2009, 13:00 | | GEN - Competition Commission uncovers mining roof bolts cartel |
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JSE
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GEN - Competition Commission uncovers mining roof bolts cartel
Press Release
Competition Commission uncovers mining roof bolts cartel
The Competition Commission has today referred its findings of cartel activity by
Aveng (Africa) Ltd, trading as Duraset ("Duraset"), RSC Ekusasa Mining (Pty) Ltd
(RSC), Dywidag-Systems International (Pty) Ltd ("DSI") and Videx Wire Products
(Pty) Ltd ("Videx") to the Tribunal for adjudication and has asked the Tribunal
to levy an administrative penalty of 10% on the annual turnover of three of the
firms.
All of the respondents are suppliers of mining roof bolts. These are used to
provide roof and wall support in underground mines to prevent cave-ins and to
keep a mine accessible over extended periods of time.
The Commission initiated this investigation into cartel activity based on
information received in a leniency application by RSC, a subsidiary of Murray &
Roberts Steel, on 26 September 2008. RSC was the first among the cartel members
to come forward and admit it had colluded with its competitors. Subsequently,
another party attempted to apply for leniency, but this was rejected since
conditional leniency had already been granted to RSC in respect of the conduct.
The investigation revealed that the mining roof bolts cartel may have started
during the 1990`s and was resuscitated around 2002 when DSI entered the market
with prices considered by its competitors as "exceptionally low and
unsustainable". This resulted in a price war, after which the respondents
arranged to meet and discuss how to coordinate their conduct in the supply of
mining roof bolts.
Over an extended period of time the respondents agreed not to sell to "each
other`s mines" and under the guise of an industry association, each member was
allocated 25% of market share. These cartel members had agreements to allocate
customers and products and also to collude on tenders until 2008. Their major
customers included De Beers, Goldfields, Harmony, Anglo Platinum, Lonmin and
Sasol Coal.
ENDS
Jennifer Cohen 011 214 2401/ 082 468 6469 jennifer.cohen@fd.com
Dani Cohen 021 487 9021 / 082 897 0443 dani.cohen@fd.com
Senzi Dlamini 011 214 2420 / 073 494 0030 senzi.dlamini@fd.com
On behalf of: The Competition Commission
Further info:
Molebogeng Taunyane, Co-ordinator: External Communications
012 394 3289 / 082 646 8663 / molebogengt@comcpcom.co.za
30 September 2009
Date: 30/09/2009 13:00:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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