Chilean supermarkets fined $12 million for chicken price-fixing

[Judi Lynn]

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 / 7:32 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Aislinn Laing
1 MIN READ

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean supermarket chains Cencosud, SMU and the local unit of Walmart Inc were fined $12.1 million on Thursday for participating in a scheme to fix the price of fresh chicken, according to court documents.

The companies, which have a combined market share of more than 90 percent, said they would appeal to Chile’s supreme court.

. . .

The TDLC fined Censosud $5.14 million, Wal-Mart Chile $4.1 million, and SMU $3 million.

Antitrust regulator the FNE brought the case in 2016 after Chilean paper manufacturer CMPC and a division of Sweden’s SCA were fined and ordered to compensate consumers for colluding for a decade to fix toilet paper prices.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-supermarkets-chicken/chilean-supermarkets-fined-12-million-for-chicken-price-fixing-idUSKCN1QI3AK?rpc=401&

[Judi Lynn]

1. Walmart, local stores hit with $12 mn price-fixing fine in Chile

Date created : 01/03/2019 - 03:09

Santiago (AFP)

A Chilean anti-trust court on Thursday fined two homegrown supermarket chains and the local branch of Walmart $12.4 million for colluding to fix the price of fresh chicken.

The Court for the Defense of Free Competition found that Walmart, Cencosud and SMU had worked together to set prices from 2008 to 2011.

The three chains, which control 92.5 percent of Chile's grocery sector, said Thursday in separate statements that that they would appeal the ruling to the country's Supreme Court.

The case is the latest in a long line of similar price-fixing schemes to plague Chile, including over toilet paper and cement production.

More:
https://www.france24.com/en/20190301-walmart-local-stores-hit-with-12-mn-price-fixing-fine-chile