Displaying items by tag: Fine

India: The Indian Supreme Court (SC) today refused to give interim relief to cement manufacturers in their appeal against the interim penalty imposed on them on charges of forming a cartel, confirmed for now by the Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT). It did, however, delay the deadline for the penalty by over a week.

The CAT had told the companies to pay 10% of the total US$1.1bn penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) by 16 June 2013 and it posted their main appeal for August 2013. The manufacturers appealed against this to the SC. Now the deadline for payment has been moved from Sunday 16 June 2013 until Monday 24 June 2013. However, the court insisted on their complying with the CAT's interim order.

The order was imposed by CCI against 11 major cement producers including ACC, UltraTech and Ambuja and their association. The apex court refused to lift the penalty order or reduce the rate, despite long arguments over two days by senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi for UltraTech Cement and Ranjit Kumar for Jaiprakash Associates. According to the modified order, the amounts shall be deposited with the tribunal and kept in a separate fixed deposit with a nationalised bank. The deposit shall be renewable after six months. The amounts deposited, with interest, shall be dealt with by the tribunal at the time of the disposal of the appeals of the cement companies.

The case was originally filed by the Builders Association of India before the CCI, alleging cartelisation by the cement companies. The director general (investigation) of the CCI found evidence of formation of a cartel by the cement companies, with capacity utilisation held down to control prices. The penalty was calculated on the basis of the annual turnover of the companies in question over a certain period.

India: On 11 June 2013 the Supreme Court admitted the appeals of several cement manufacturers against a Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) order, which directed the cement companies to pay a penalty for allegedly forming a cartel. The case is scheduled to come up towards the end of the week ending 14 June 2013 after the reply of the Builders Association of India (BAI).

The cement companies argued that the penalty, fixed ad hoc at the rate of 10% of their worth, was huge and unjustified. If the firms do not pay the penalties, their appeal case (before CAT) will be automatically dismissed, according to the CAT order.

UltraTech Cement Ltd, argued that CCI did not find any prima facie case against the 11 companies picked by the association out of 42 major cement manufacturers but still the CAT imposed a penalty in an interim order. The deadline for payment of the penalties is 16 June 2013.

Among the cement manufacturers that have appealed to the Supreme Court against the CAT order are Jaiprakash Associates, Century Textiles & Industries and Madras Cements.

India: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPACT) has ordered cement producers to pay 10% of a US$1.15bn fine imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for a price-fixing cartel. The tribunal asked 11 Indian cement producers to pay the fine within 30 days otherwise their appeal against the fine will be dismissed.

COMPAT had reserved its order over a batch of petitions filed by various cement producers and the Cement Manufacturer's Association (CMA) on 18 March 2013 after hearing them on an interim plea. In the petitions, the cement producers had challenged US$1.15bn penalty imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and a US$133,000 fine imposed on the CMA. The cement companies charged with cartel behaviour include Lafarge India, India Cement, JP Associates, Binani Cement, Ambuja Cement, Madras Cement and J K Cement.

The CCI had found cement producers were in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements, including cartels. The order was passed following probe by CCI Director General (Investigation) on a complaint filed by Builders Association.

US: Lehigh Northeast Cement has been fined US$50,000 by the state of New York for pollution violations relating to historic cement manufacturing at the company's plant in Cementon, also known as Smith's Landing in the state of New York. The site is currently a cement grinding plant.

In assessing the fine, the Department for Environmental Conservation (DEC) agreed to suspend US$10,000 from the total if Lehigh submits clean up and repair plans in the summer of 2013. In 2008, Lehigh was fined US$50,000 for similar problems with cement waste leaking through groundwater into the river from two other sites nearby. The company did not meet all clean-up goals set at that time.

Under a settlement with DEC signed on 8 April 2013 by DEC Regional Director Gene Kelly, Lehigh agreed to submit plans to clean up the sites and halt future leaks. The company also agreed to start using 'low-mercury' water treatment chemicals in its wastewater treatment system and also to begin checking its wastewater for acidity and lead levels.

In return, the company will have additional time to reach river pollution limits set in a DEC pollution permit issued in June 2011. Lehigh had initially contested those limits, but agreed under the settlement to drop its objections.

Lehigh said that historically some of the leaky sites had been capped, while others had not been using 'then-approved or accepted procedures.' The company added that it was working 'to contain and treat the leachate, under guidance and approval from DEC,' including installation of collection basins, and a pump-and-treat system to lower acidity of water before it reaches the river.

US: Cemex has agreed to pay a US$1m fine and to install controls to decrease its emissions of nitrogen oxide (NO_x) at its Lyons cement plant in Colorado to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had accused Cemex of illegally modifying its Lyons plant in a way that increased the amount of NOx the facility released.

"Today's settlement will reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides, which can have serious impacts on respiratory health for communities along Colorado's Front Range," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. She added that this could improve visibility at the nearby Rocky Mountain National Park.

The US Department of Justice, on behalf of the EPA, filed a complaint against Cemex alleging that between 1997 and 2000 the company unlawfully made modifications at its Lyons plant that resulted in significant net increases of NO_x and particulate matter (PM) emissions. The complaint further alleges that these increased emissions violated the CAA's Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Non-Attainment New Source Review requirements, which state that companies must obtain the necessary permits prior to making modifications at a facility and install and operate required pollution control equipment if modifications will result in increases of certain pollutants.

As part of the settlement, Cemex will install 'Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction' (SNCR) technology at its Lyons facility, which is an advanced pollution control technology designed to reduce NO_x emissions. This will reduce its NO_x emissions by approximately 870 to 1200t/yr. The initial capital cost for installing SNCR technology is approximately US$600,000 and the cost of injecting ammonia into the stack emissions stream, a necessary part of the process, is anticipated to be about US$1.5m/yr.

Germany: HeidelbergCement said that its profits would be hit by about Euro30m in the second quarter of 2013 due to a fine for infringement of cartel rules. HeidelbergCement said that the fine, a total of Euro161.4m for cartel infringements during the years 1990 to 2002, would not affect its earnings outlook.

India: Major Indian cement producer Jaiprakash Associates has informed the Supreme Court of India that it is unable to pay a US$18.8m fine imposed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court for setting up a captive thermal power plant without gaining the required environmental clearance.

The Jaypee group firm said that it is in 'great difficulty' and can't arrange funds to pay its second instalment of US$4.7m that is due on 31 March 2013. However, it said it had paid the first instalment of the same amount. A bench headed by chief justice Altamas Kabir agreed for an early hearing on 12 March 2013 even though the environment ministry and the state government opposed the plea, saying that there is no way for Jaiprakash Associates to avoid the US$18.8m fine.

On 4 May 2012 the High Court ordered the Jaiprakash Associates to dismantle its 60MW captive power plant within three months. It allowed the 1.75Mt/yr cement plant in Solan to stay. In November 2012 Jaiprakash Associates reported that its net profit for the six months to 30 September 2012 had dropped by nearly 40% to US$50.1m from US$81.3 in the same period in 2011.

India: After setting a precedent by fining 11 cement companies a combined US$1.13bn in June 2012, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has now imposed a penalty of US$71.5m on Shree Cement for indulging in restrictive trade practices.

The CCI has imposed the penalty on Shree Cement while issuing final order in the case against cement manufacturers and their trade body, the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA). "The commission has also imposed a penalty on Shree Cement at the rate of 0.5 times its profits for the years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 aggregating to US$71.5m," said the CCI in a statement.

"We have not seen the CCI order. Let us first go through the order and then we will decide on the future course of action in consultation with our lawyers, " commented H M Bangur, the managing director of Shree Cement.

The CCI found 11 cement manufacturers, including Shree Cement Limited and CMA, in contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deal with anti-competitive agreements including cartels. As the cement companies (except Shree Cement) were already found to be in cartel in Case No. 29 of 2010 and penalised by the CCI via its order dated on 20 June 2012, the CCI decided not to order remedies including imposition of penalty on such companies again for the same period of contravention.

It has been reported by local media that since the fine in June 2011 Indian cement prices have continued to rise, with Rayalaseema Rashtra Samiti president Kuncham Venkatasubba Reddy threatening an indefinite hunger-strike over high prices.

Spain: Spanish competition authority CNC has fined Cementos Portland Valderrivas Euro1.28m for submitting incomplete information. In May 2012 the CNC launched a probe into Cementos Portland over allegedly incorrect information about revenues, volume of products and corporate structure. Cementos Portland was obliged in January 2012 to pay a Euro5.72m fine for participating in a cartel fixing the prices of concrete.

South Africa: The French multinational Lafarge will pay US$19.3m after it was found guilty of involvement in a cement cartel in South Africa. The Competition Tribunal confirmed that the settlement represented 6% of Lafarge's 2010 turnover in the Southern African Customs Union countries (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia). AfriSam, another of the cartel participants, previously agreed to pay an 'administrative penalty' of US$16.1m.