R146m fine for Price Fixing

According to a Business Day report, the Competition Commission said yesterday it had imposed a R146m (approx $2million) fine on scrap metal company New Reclamation Group for its involvement in collusion and price fixing in the ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal markets. The administrative penalty, which represents 6% of the unlisted company’s annual turnover in the affected market, tops the R98m fine imposed on food giant Tiger Brands in November for fixing the price of bread. The report notes that the fine is the highest uncontested fine to date that the Commission has imposed. Reclamation’s collusion, one aspect of which was to rig bids in the sale of wagons, tankers and coaches by Spoornet, was uncovered last July by the Commission during raids seeking information about a separate matter – the proposed merger between the company and a client, SA Metal and Machinery. At the time of the raids, the company said it ‘strongly’ denied any bid-rigging.