Johannesburg - Electric cable manufacturing company ATC (Pty) Ltd has agreed to pay R80.7 million in an agreement with the Competition Commission after admitting to collusion, the Competition Tribunal said on Wednesday.
The settlement agreement was confirmed as an order of the tribunal on Wednesday, spokeswoman Nandi Mokoena said in a statement.
The complaint was investigated as part of a probe into power cable manufacturers for fixing prices, dividing markets, and tendering collusively in contravention of the Competition Act.
The complaint was against all the members of the Association of Electric Cable Manufacturers of SA (AECMSA), of which ATP is a member.
“The commission's investigations found that all the members of AECMSA, which are cable manufacturers agreed, under the auspices of AECMSA, on a price escalation formula to be used as basis for increasing prices quoted when bidding for short and long term tenders for the supply of power cables.”
The formula effectively fixed the level of price increases or decreases in tenders when the price of input materials went up or down.
AECMSA members include South Ocean Electric Wire Company, Tulisa Cables, Kewberg Cables & Braids, Phoenix Power Cables, and Silcom.
Sapa