| Title | Competition Commission and Overberg |
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| Case No | 43/CR/Jun11 |
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| Parties | The Competition Commission vs Overberg Agri Bedrywe (Pty) Ltd |
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| Status | Granted |
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| Penalty | R241 186.20 |
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| Rating | 2 |
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| Date | 07/09/2011 |
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| Time | No time available |
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| Summary | The Competition Tribunal confirmed settlement agreements
between the Competition Commission and 3 companies in the
grain storage and trading industry. This is a price fixing
case against 17 firms in this market. In terms of the
settlement agreements, Morreesburgse Koringboere, Overberg
Agri Bedrywe and Sentraal-Suid Co-operative have all
committed to cooperate with the Commission in prosecuting
the remaining cases; to refrain from contravening the price
fixing provisions of the Competition Act and to develop and
implement competition compliance programmes. In addition,
the respondents have agreed to pay administrative penalties
as follows: Morreesburgse Koringboere will pay R159 364.60
upon confirmation of the settlement; Overberg Agri will pay
R241 186.20 upon confirmation of the settlement;
Sentraal-Suid Co-operative will pay R75 852.04 upon
confirmation of the settlement; The Commission and the 3
parties previously postponed this matter by agreement for
both parties to file heads of argument with regards to the
above matter and their settlement agreements.
Background * * The Competition Commission initiated an
investigation against members of Grain Silo Industry (Pty)
Ltd on 17 March 2009, in which it was found that the storage
rates for SAFEX were agreed to by all members and
shareholders of the Grain Silo Industry which amounted to
price fixing. Further, the investigation revealed that the
SAFEX storage rates were utilised as a reference point for
the physical grain storage market which amounts to indirect
price fixing. In a separate case, the Commission also
reached a settlement with Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and NWK
Limited (NWK) over allegations of dividing the grain trade
market in which they compete by allocating territories and
customers. This followed an agreement entered into by RMB
and NWK in 2005 in respect... |
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| Keywords | consent order, grain storage, silo, national, cartel activity, price fixing, administrative penalty, industry organisation, SAFEX tariffs |
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| Source | Competition Tribunal |
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| Reasons and Orders | 43CRJun11 overberg co |
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| Date Posted | 27/09/2011 1:24pm |
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| All Other Case Documents | No documents available |
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