According to the official text, the National Commission for the Defense of Competition observed that the company and the chambers involved “they devised, designed, implemented and monitored a price fixing agreement in order to limit competition between wheat and flour milling companies.”
The payment of the fines must be made effective within ten business days from the notification (that is, until April 21), and Internal Trade urged the parties to “cease and refrain from making price fixing agreements and exchanging sensitive information, in the wheat milling market and the marketing of flour of wheat.
According to the complaint, On August 13, 2015, in the framework of the “Flour Festival” held at the Sheraton Hotel in Buenos Aires, the four denounced parties and “at least 107 companies” sealed the so-called “General agreement of free competition in the milling sector”, which would imply the setting of minimum prices agreed by the entire sector, in what Internal Trade considered an “institutionalized cartel”.
Thereafter, it is indicated in the recitals of the resolution, “an action of anticompetitive practices began” by Molino Cañuelas, organizing price meetings convened by FAIM that “would have pursued the subordination of part of the small mills with the threat of possible institutional sanctions and their potential damages and economic consequences”.
Impulsar argued that FAIM “is at the service of an oligopoly and is governed by a statute that establishes a decision mechanism based on grinding capacity,” and consequently “the largest decides and the others abide by.”
He also assured that Molino Cañuelas “limits, distorts and restricts free competition in the market and the development of jobs generated by small and medium mills, essential for the functioning and sustainability of the national economy”.
According to the opinion of the CNDC, “the imputed anticompetitive behaviors took place throughout the national territory in the period from October 2014 to, at least, April 2017”.
These conducts configured “a horizontal collusive practice between the defendants, for the setting of minimum sales prices and exchange of sensitive information, in order to limit competition between the milling companies in the wheat milling market and the marketing of flour of wheat throughout the national territory, being detrimental to free competition and the general economic interest,” Interior Trade stated in the resolution.
“An agreement of the characteristics of the one analyzed here requires a coordinator with sufficient weight in the market that provides a certain stability, in our case, the firm Molino Cañuelas”he remarked.
Although the fine set for the company was $150 million, since it was the maximum legally allowed, Interior Trade assured that “from the calculation of 20% on net sales of wheat flour for the year 2017, that is, taking the minimum percentage of the range recommended at the international level for cartel cases, would amount to the sum of $1,083,806,800”.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
