K Line to pay R98.9m price-fixing fine

A SETTLEMENT agreement between Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) and the Competition Commission in terms of which the Japanese car carrier company agreed to pay a fine of R98.9 million for price-fixing, market division and tender collusion has been confirmed by the Competition Tribunal yesterday.

This follows the commission referring 15 separate instances of practices prohibited by K Line to the tribunal, which subsequently resulted in K Line admitting to eight of these cases, following an investigation initiated by the commission in September 2012.

The commission initiated an investigation in September 2012 related to tenders for the provision of transportation services of motor vehicles and machinery and/or equipment, including new and used vehicles and new and used construction and agricultural machinery by sea to and from South Africa.

The eight cases admitted by K Line involved tenders issued by Honda, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Maruti Suzuki, Nissan Motor Corporation, Toyota South Africa Motors, Toyota Motors Asia Pacific, Toyota Tsusho, Toyota Motor Corporation and Ford Motor Company.

K Line admitted to agreeing and/or engaging in concerted practices with its competitors to fix prices, divide markets and tender collusively in these cases.