Cement cartel victory could boost UK claims

Investigators collecting evidence into alleged price fixing in the UK cement market believe they have a stronger case after producers in Germany lost their bid to throw out a cartel lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by Cartel Damage Claims (CDC) against Heidelberg, Lafarge, Holcim, Cemex and three others, seeks £280m in damages for around 35 firms. It follows an investigation which found the company’s had colluded in a cartel stretching back to the 1970s.

Seamus Maye, a director at CDC, told CJ that over 80 UK firms had come forward with evidence for its case. He believes more will follow suit after this decision and the possibility of similar action in Poland.

“It’s a pincer movement across Europe and the same big four are involved,” he said. "I have no doubt there are anti-competitive infringements in the UK including discriminatory pricing, markets sharing arrangements and co-ordinated price movements.”

In Germany, Cemex came forward to blow the whistle on the cartel, reducing its fine from £160m to £10m. Maye believes the threat of further stiff penalties will force one of the major cement players in the UK to cooperate.

He added: “We are examining a couple of options, one of them is to lodge a ‘super-complaint’ with the OFT.”

Some industry observers believe the appointment of Professor Richard Wish as a non-executive director at the OFT is a sign of the trade watchdog’s interest in the sector.

The professor of law at Kings College, London is on record as saying: “The only countries in which I have been unable to find the cement cartel is where there is a national state-owned monopoly for cement.”