EU suspects UPM of price fixing in industrial sack market

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The European Commission suspects Finnish industry giant UPM of taking part in an industrial sack and plastic films cartel. According to a statement released by the European Commission, UPM and other industrial plastic sack manufacturers are being investigated for allocating markets and fixing prices.
      Brussels have sent an official Statement of Objections to 43 different companies.
      UPM gave up manufacturing industrial sacks and plastic films over three years ago, when it sold these business activities to a German company, Rheinische Kunststoffwerke.
      However, according to the Commission interpretation, UPM is still accountable for its past undertakings.
      The Commission has investigated the alleged antitrust activities in the plastic industrial sacks market for over a year. EU examiners have also visited the UPM offices.
     
UPM's plastic sacks were manufactured by Rosenlew, which was bought by Rauma-Repola in the mid 1980s. Later Rauma-Repola was incorporated in the Repola Group, which then consociated with Kymi Corporation. The industrial giant that was created later changed its name to UPM.
      Rosenlew manufactured industrial sacks in Finland and in France, with an annual turnover of around EUR 74 million.
      If found guilty of cartel accusations, UPM may be hit with a fine worth up to ten percent of the activity turnover.
      UPM would then have the option to appeal the decision to the EC Court.
     
According to the UPM spokesman, lawyer Petri Meurman, the company does not want to admit or deny anything at this juncture. "We haven't had a chance to go through the documents yet. At present, we have no knowledge of what has happened in the plastic sack market", Meurman says.
      UPM and other suspected companies have been given eight weeks to render their response to the commission.
      UPM's internal investigation is made more difficult by the fact that the Rosenlew directors of the time have already either retired or moved on to other companies.
      In addition to the alleged sack cartel, UPM is also currently under investigation for allegedly taking part in a sticker cartel in the United States.


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