The European Commission on July 20 announced that it has fined producers of animal feed phosphates a total of €175.64 million (US$224 million) for operating a cartel that lasted over three decades and covered a large part of the European Economic Area (EEA) territory.
“… I am again surprised that the main producers of a vital compound for animal feed abused a substantial part of the European animal feed market for nearly 35 years,” said Joaquín Almunia, Commission vice president in charge of competition policy. “While companies that cooperate with the Commission, including under the settlement procedure, can count on immunity or a reduction of the fine, there should be no doubt about our determination to unearth and punish cartel members.”
The Commission was first informed about the cartel in 2003 by Kemira, one of the participants that applied for leniency. The decision establishes that the cartel existed from as early as March 1969 until February 2004, although not all producers were involved for the entire period. The cartel members operated a market-sharing and price-fixing cartel covering most of the European Union (EU) and subsequently also a great part of the EEA territory. To this end, they allocated market shares, feed phosphates sales quotas, and customers among themselves, and coordinated prices and sales conditions when necessary.
After the Commission had informed the parties of the fine ranges, one company, Timab Industries S.A./Compagnie Financière et de Participation Roullier, decided to discontinue the settlement proceedings. All those in the settlement proceedings received a 10 percent fine reduction. Kemira was not fined, as companies that are first to reveal cartels to the Commission enjoy immunity from fines. Yara was not fined because it bought Kemira’s assets.
| Groups | Reduction under the Leniency Notice | Reduction under the Settlement Notice | Final amount of the fine (Euro) |
| Yara Phosphates Oy (FI) Yara Suomi Oy (FI) Kemira Oyj (FI) | 100 percent | 0 | |
| Tessenderlo Chemie N.V. (B) | 50 percent | 10 percent | 83,752,000 |
| Ercros S.A. and Ercros Industrial S.A. (ES) | 10 percent | 14,850,000 | |
| Quimitécnica.com – Comércio e Indústria Química S.A (PT) José de Mello SGPS S.A. (PT) | 25 percent | 10 percent | 2,795,000 |
| FMC Foret S.A. (ES) FMC Chemicals Netherlands B.V. (NL) FMC Corp. (USA) | 10 percent | 14,400,000 | |
| Timab Industries S.A. (FR) Compagnie Financière et de Participation Roullier (‘CFPR’) (FR) | 5 percent | 59,850,000 |