INVESTIGATION INTO CONCRETE INDUSTRY CONCLUDED: RDB AND XELLA FINED
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ANTITRUST AUTHORITY FINES PUNISH ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN RDB AND XELLA AND ABUSE OF RDB'S DOMINANT POSITION IN THE MARKET FOR AUTOCLAVED CELLULAR CONCRETE.
FINES TOTAL OVER €4M
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 24 October 2007, decided to impose a fine on an arrangement between Xella International GmbH and RDB S.p.A. in the Italian market for autoclaved cellular concrete (ACC). In that same market, RDB was also individually held responsible for abuse of a dominant position with respect to its competitor Italgasbeton S.p.A.
Autoclaved cellular concrete is a building material with innovative characteristics when compared with traditional concrete products and sales are expected to increase as building codes become more stringent regarding energy savings.
Xella and RDB – respectively the number one manufacturers of CCA in the world and in Italy – put in place an anti-competitive arrangement to coordinate their commercial policies and monopolize the Italian CCA market which is already extremely concentrated. Basic to this agreement were the joint shareholdings by the companies in RDB Hebel S.p.A., which the Authority has ordered shut down within 18 months from notification of the measure: no other provision would have permitted competitive conditions to be re-established in the marketplace.
The Antitrust Authority further ascertained that in 2005 RDB – in a particular phase of its agreement with Xella – took unfair advantage of its own dominant position with respect to the last remaining domestic manufacturer of CCA, Italgasbeton, by having recourse to a complex predatory strategy intended to drive it out of the market.
Regarding the agreement, the Authority decided on the following fines:
- Xella: Euro 510,000;
- RDB: Euro 1,860,000.
Rome, 9 November 2007