Saudi cement companies fined for price manipulation

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition (GAC) has fined 14 cement companies a total of SAR140m (US$37.33m) for price manipulation activities. Each company has been found guilty of trying to manipulate Saudi’s cement market with price increases, resulting in a SAR10m fine each.

According to the Saudi Gazette, the GAC received numerous complaints that several cement producers were collaborating to raise cement prices and share the local market between themselves. After collecting evidence and information as part of a thorough investigation, the GAC concluded that all 14 cement companies had violated the Competition Law, namely paragraph 1 of Article Four.

Saudi Gazette names the cement companies in question as Al-Safwa, Al-Madinah, Umm Al-Qura, Al-Jouf, Al-Qassim, Southern Cement, Najran, United Cement, Al-Yamama, Al-Riyadh, Arabian Cement, Saudi Cement, Yanbu, and Hail Cement.