Kimberly-Clark, rival fixed Chile diaper prices — Report

SANTIAGO: Chilean paper products company CMPC has admitted to colluding with US rival Kimberly-Clark to fix the price of diapers and other hygiene products on the Chilean market, a newspaper reported.

Kimberly-Clark, a global giant in the industry, conspired with CMPC to set prices for their rival brands from 2002 to 2009, according to the report in La Tercera daily, which cited a plea bargain between the Chilean firm and local regulators.

It said the alleged price-fixing scam centered on the companies’ rival diaper brands – Huggies for Kimberly-Clark, Babysec for CMPC.

The two brands each account for just over one-third of the Chilean market.

Neither company immediately responded to requests for comment.

President Michelle Bachelet condemned the alleged price-fixing.

“These bad practices by certain business executives directly affect confidence (in the economy) and put a brake on our economic development,” she said.

CMPC had already been embroiled in a price-fixing scandal last year, when it admitted to colluding to split the toilet paper market with local rival SCA Chile.

Consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit in that case seeking US$510 million in compensation from the companies.

Chile, which long had an image as the least corrupt country in Latin America, has recently been hit by a string of corporate crimes, including price-fixing scandals in the poultry and pharmacy industries.

Bachelet’s government has also been rocked by corruption scandals involving illegal campaign contributions to a broad swathe of politicians and alleged influencepeddling by her son and daughterin-law. — AFP