Cade to sign agreement with Lafarge Brasil

Cade to sign agreement with Lafarge Brasil
29 November 2007


Brazilian antitrust agency Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica (Cade) approved on November 28, 2007, the proposal for signing an agreement with  Lafarge Brasil, the local cement subsidiary of   Lafarge.
 
Under the the agreement,  Lafarge Brasil will pay BRR43m (US$24.6m) fine and in exchange, Cade will archive the charges against the company.  
 
In March 2007, Lafarge Brasil was accused, together with other seven cement producers, of having formed a cartel and thus blocked the competition.  
 
That will be Cade’s first agreement of that type with a company. It was made possible by a Brazilian law that entered into force in July 2007.  
 
According to counciller Luiz Schuartz, who was in charge of the report on the case, the agreement allows for a speedy closing of the case, which could have lasted for years.  
 
Apart from the fine,  Lafarge is obliged to cooperate in the investigation of the supposed cement cartel. The other companies subject to Cade’s investigation are Votorantim, Camargo Correa,  Holcim, Cimpor, Cimento Nassau, Soeicom and Itambe.  
 
Published under Cement News