Tel Aviv — The Central District Court has been asked to approve a class action suit against Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) subsidiary Dead Sea Works (DSW) for monopoly practices. An Israeli farmer who lodged the request is claiming $26 million in damages for farmers buying potash from the company. The appeal to the district court charges DSW with taking advantage of its monopoly position in Israel to charge exorbitant prices for potash in the domestic market. The appeal is the first of its kind to be lodged since Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ruled that an indirect and not just a direct customer can take legal action against companies that violate Israel’s anti-trust law. The appeal charges that not only are domestic potash prices unreasonably high, but that since all government supervision of prices was lifted in 2006 and DSW has taken advantage of its monopoly powers. ICL would not comment on the appeal, saying that it had yet to officially receive it. In April an arbitrator issued a ruling regarding the price of potash sold by ICL to Haifa Chemicals following a lengthy dispute. In his ruling, Judge Boaz Okun stated DSW took advantage of its position as the sole supplier of potash in the local market to dictate prices that were just below the level that would have made it economically feasible to import potash instead of buying it locally. The judge stated in his ruling that DSW raised the price of potash in violation of an agreement with Haifa. The arbitrator also issued a price formula for future purchases.
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