Displaying items by tag: Competition

Croatia: The proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk is set to be blocked by the European Commission according to sources quoted by Reuters. The commission started investing the deal in October 2016 following plans by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk to buy Cemex Croatia via their jointly owned subsidiary Duna Drava Cement (DDC). The deal would see the largest producer in the area merged with the largest importer. However, a final decision on the transaction has not been made yet and the European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager could still rule in favour of it. The commission is expected to make a final decision by 18 April 2017.

Philippines: The Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP) has asked that the local industry be treated fairly in an investigation by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC). In a press statement, Ernesto M Ordoñez, President of CEMAP said that his association had not been notified or given a copy of a compliant filed by a legal firm, according to the Manila Bulletin. He added that the association’s lawyers had previously tried to find out more about the complaint in late January 2017 but had not had a reply.

"Fairness requires that both sides are heard. Not only were we not given a chance to be heard. More than a month after our letter to PCC asking for what the complaint is about so we could give our side, we still have no reply from PCC. We just found out about the nature of the complaint through the newspapers. This is one-sided and unfair, specially considering the track records of the subjects of the complaint," said Ordoñez.

The PCC announced in early March 2017 that was preparing to investigate the cement industry for alleged violations of competitive practice following a legal statement by Victorio Dimagiba, a former trade undersecretary, in August 2016 accusing CEMAP, LafargeHolcim Philippines and Republic Cement and Building Materials of engaging in anti-competitive agreements.

Philippines: The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is preparing to investigate the cement industry for alleged violations of competitive practice. It says it has found reasonable grounds to proceed to a full administrative investigation on the cement industry for possible violations of Sections 14 and 15 of the Philippine Competition Act, according to the Philippine Star newspaper. This follows a legal statement by Victorio Dimagiba, a former trade undersecretary, in August 2016 accusing the Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines (CEMAP), LafargeHolcim Philippines and Republic Cement and Building Materials of engaging in anti-competitive agreements.

Dimagiba has accused the cement producers of striking illegal agreements including, “restricting competition as to price or components thereof or other terms of trade, abusing their dominant position by engaging in conduct that substantially prevents, restricts, or lessens competition, imposing barriers to entry, or committing acts that prevent competitors from growing within the market.” He has also alleged that Ernesto Ordonez, the head of CEMAP, has used the trade association to justify violating the Philippine Competition Act, as well as maintaining prices of domestic cement in the retail market ‘unreasonably’ high.

Ordonez responded to the claims saying that he was puzzled about the PCC’s decision and that CEMAP had not been informed about a preliminary inquiry.

Croatia: HeidelbergCement has appealed against an investigation by the European Commission into the proposed joint purchase with Germany’s Schwenk Zement of Cemex Croatia. The cement producer asserts that by considering Schwenk and itself rather than Duna-Dráva Cement (DDC), a subsidiary that both companies own equally, the commission has given the transaction a ‘Union dimension,’ according to the Official Journal of the European Union. Although DDC is based in Hungary, within the European Union (EU), it imports cement into Croatia (in the EU) from Bosnia & Herzegovina, a country outside of the union. The appeal was made in late December 2016 but only reported in late February 2017.

The European Commission revealed that it was investigating the proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk in October 2016. The commission was concerned that the transaction would merge the biggest producer in the area with the biggest importer, potentially reducing local competition.

Brazil: Brazil's antitrust watchdog Cade has decided to end its investigation into 18 companies from the cement sector over alleged anti-competition practices. The allegations were that some of the companies had reached an agreement to refuse to provide three types of cement to competitors outside of an economic group, which would lead to increased prices of the products, according to the Valor Economico newspaper. Cade determined punishments were to be applied to Holcim Brasil, Cimento Tupi and Votorantim Pimentos. However, case leader Paulo Burnier decided that there insufficient evidence to apply sanctions on the majority of companies concerned. He also noted that some of the companies had already been set punishments by Cade for involvement in cartel practices.

The European Commission’s decision to investigate Duna-Dráva Cement’s (DDC) purchase of Cemex Croatia sticks out in a busy news week. There have been a few noteworthy news stories this week from the Indonesian government making preparations to fight overcapacity, LafargeHolcim retreating from Chile, Cemex restructuring its management in Colombia after investigations into a land deal and the announcement of merger plans between two of the larger refractory manufacturers. Yet the commission’s probe is a response to what may be in effect a ‘land grab’ by DDC. How on earth did HeidelbergCement and Schwenk, the joint-owners of DDC, think they were going to pass this one past the relevant competition bodies?!

As the commissions describes it, the “proposed transaction would combine Cemex Croatia, the largest producer in the area, and DDC, the largest importer.” So far, so bad. Then add the observation that Cemex Croatia and LafargeHolcim control all the cement terminals in ports along the Croatian coast. Cemex has three cement plants in the south of the country with no nearby competition. Giving the owners of DDC those assets ties up the market southern Croatia nicely. Understandably, the European Commission has concerns.

Croatia has five cement plants. LafargeHolcim runs a 0.45Mt/yr plant at Koromačno and Nasicecement run a 0.6Mt/yr plant at Nasice. Cemex’s three plants are all in the south near Split within about 10km of each other. When Global Cement visited in late 2014 Cemex Croatia told us that the plants were so close together that the company considered them as one plant. The sites also share one quarry for their raw materials. Only one of three plants, Sv Juraj the largest, has a bagging unit and Sv 10 Kolovoz was mothballed due to poor market demand. Together the plants have a cement production capacity of 1.92Mt/yr. This gives Cemex 65% of the market by production capacity.

Describing the three plants as one certainly makes sense for a company that might have been considering selling them. However, it is a fair comment given the close proximity of the plants to each other and the joint-capacity below that of some of the larger single site multi-kiln plants around the world. In this sense, the real questions for the European Commission will be how much of a dent to competition will it make to hand over the area’s main importer to the area’s main producer?

Graph 1: Cement consumption in Croatia, 2011 - 2015 (Mt). Source: Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Looking at the national cement market since 2011 in Graph 1 using data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, sales volumes fell to a low in 2013 and have picked up since then, although not to the same levels. Prior to this cement sales halved from 2008 to 2013. Under these kinds of conditions Nexe Grupa, the owner of Nasicecement, filed with pre-bankruptcy settlements in 2013. HeidelbergCement expressed interest in the cement assets around this time, although nothing eventually happened. Imports of cement grew by 11% year-on-year to 312,000t in 2015 from 280,000t in 2014. This compares to a 1% increase to 2.36Mt in domestic cement sales in 2015.

As the commission suggests, combining the region’s biggest producer and its biggest importer seems like a recipe for reduced competition and inflated prices. This could be mitigated, in theory, if DDC decided to flood the region with imports from HeidelbergCement’s new assets from Italcementi once it completes its purchase of that company. Although a dominant player in a region undercutting its own prices seems far fetched. Theoreticals aside, it seems very unlikely that the European Commission will let the purchase go ahead without taking some sort of action.

Croatia: The European Commission has opened an investigation to check whether the proposed acquisition of Cemex Croatia by HeidelbergCement and Schwenk is in line with the European Union (EU) Merger Regulation. The commission has concerns that the proposed takeover may reduce competition for grey cement in Croatia. It will make its decision by 23 February 2017.

"The construction sector, like any other sector, needs competition. As cement is an essential part of the sector we need to make sure that consolidation does not lead to higher prices for construction companies and ultimately consumers in Croatia," said commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

The commission has concerns regarding the supply of grey cement in southern Croatia, including Dalmatia in particular, where Cemex Croatia operates three cement plants in Split and faces competition from DDC's imports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is not an EU member. The proposed transaction would combine Cemex Croatia, the largest producer in the area, and DDC, the largest importer. The commission's initial investigation indicates that the proposed transaction may remove a significant competitor from an already concentrated regional market.

The remaining actual or potential suppliers may exercise only limited competitive pressure on the merged entity because of the transport costs to reach southern Croatia. Additionally, the domestic cement suppliers Cemex Croatia and LafargeHolcim control all the cement terminals in ports along the Croatian coast. The commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction may strengthen the market power of Cemex Croatia in southern Croatia and result in price increases for grey cement.

HeidelbergCement and Schwenk plan to acquire, via their joint subsidiary DDC, assets in Croatia and Hungary that currently belonging to Cemex. The Hungarian part of the transaction as been referred to the Hungarian competition authority, so the commission's investigation will focuses on the acquisition of Cemex's Croatian assets.

Italy: The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has decided to extend its investigation of the Italian Cement Association (AITEC) and cement producers including Italcementi, Colacem and Sacci. The AGCM has been looking into alleged coordinated increased in cement prices over the past six months. The regulator has now extended its inquiries until May 2017 due to ‘suspicious’ behaviour. The inspections have revealed that simultaneous price rises and similar sales prices communicated to customers in advance has been in practice by the companies being investigated and other players in the sector.

Europe: The European Court of Justice has annulled a request for information by the European Commission into several cement producers in a cartel probe. The judgement could restrict the competition watchdog's investigative powers, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal.

The commission opened an antitrust investigation in late 2010 looking at the activities of Cemex, Holcim, Lafarge, HeidelbergCement and others. Originally the cement companies were suspected by the commission of colluding with rivals to fix prices and share markets in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. However, the investigation was closed in mid-2015 due to insufficient evidence. Since then the cement producers have challenged the commission’s right to ask for the level of detail they requested. The ruling overturns a 2014 decision by the EU's General Court, which said the commission questionnaires were justified.

Ireland: Gardaí (Ireland's police force) and officials from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) raided Irish Cement's offices last week in an investigation into the Euro50m bagged-cement industry. According to local media, the inquiry is focused on charges of abuse of a dominant position, which is an offence under both Irish and European law.

The alleged offence involves a business using a powerful position in a particular market to force out rivals or put them out of business. It often involves predatory pricing, namely cutting charges for products or services to a point where others cannot compete. Irish Cement is one of the largest players in the market.

"Irish Cement fully facilitated the inspection and is continuing to cooperate with the CCPC. Inspections regarding competition policies, procedures and practices are an accepted part of the business environment around the world," said Irish Cement in a statement. The company added that it operated to the highest standard and was confident that it had no issues in relation to competition.