A formal 'statement of objections' has been sent to the companies implicated in the probe, including Kemira, Akzo Nobel, Solvay, Degussa, and Arkema, along with 13 others. Hydrogen peroxide is widely used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, for example as a catalyst for organic syntheses and as a disinfectant in pharma and cosmetic products.
The companies acknowledge that they have received documents from the EC detailing the complaint, and now have two months to respond.
Under EU law the Commission may impose fines for anti-cartel violations of up to 10 per cent of a firm's annual turnover, and penalties have been hefty of late. Last month, the EC fined Akzo, Arkema, and Hoechst a total of €217m for operating a cartel in the market for monochloroacetic acid (MCAA).
In the latest probe, the firms are accused of collectively agreeing on prices for hydrogen peroxide and derivatives, exchanging information on prices and sales volumes, agreeing to capacity reductions, and monitoring each other's compliance with these arrangements over a period from 1994 to 2001.
The EC's inquiry got going in 2003, when antitrust squads simultaneously raided a number of companies on suspicion of conspiring to fix prices of not only hydrogen peroxide but also other chemicals such as solvents, methacrylates, and polyvinyl chloride plasticisers.
Press reports suggest that Degussa could be immune from penalties under EC law because it has acted as a whistleblower in the case.
