Power cables cartel
On April 2, 2014, the European Commission fined eleven manufacturers of underground and submarine high-voltage power cables approximately €302 million. The investigation was initiated following an immunity application from ABB. The Commission found that, between February 1999 and January 2009, the companies involved in the cartel exchanged price information and coordinated market and customer allocations both globally and specifically within the European Economic Area.
With the exception of EXSYM (formerly SWCC Showa and Mitsubishi Cable), all the fined manufacturers challenged the Commission’s decision. The European General Court (EGC) upheld the fines in its judgments of July 12, 2018. Appeals were subsequently made to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which began issuing judgments on November 14, 2019, largely dismissing the appeals.
High-voltage power cables are used in a variety of applications, including power plant connections, cross-border transmission grid connections, and municipal high-voltage grids. They are found in industrial plants, offshore facilities, ports, airports, and various high-voltage power grids.
Cartel subject:(1) Underground power cables with voltages of 110 kV and above, (2) submarine power cables with voltages of 33 kV and above, and (3) all products, works, and services related to the sale of power cables when such sales are part of a power cable project
Cartel agreements: Exchange of information on prices, market allocations, and customer assignments
Cartel members: ABB (applicant under the leniency notice), Nexans, Prysmian (formerly Pirelli), J-Power Systems (formerly Sumitomo Electric and Hitachi Metals), VISCAS (formerly Furukawa Electris und Fujikura), EXSYM (formerly SWCC Showa und Mitsubishi Cable), Brugg, NKT, Silec (formerly Safran), LS Cable und Taihan
Cartel period: 18.02.1999 – 28.01.2009
Cartel region: European Economic Area (EEA) and worldwide
Level of fines: About 302 million euros
Affected parties: All purchasers of high-voltage cables, particularly those used for power station connections, cross-border transmission network connections, and municipal high-voltage grids
Company | Reduction under the Leniency Notice | Fine (€) |
---|---|---|
ABB (Karlskrona, Sweden) | 1,00 | 0 |
Brugg (Brugg, Switzerland) | 8.490.000 | |
Nexans (Paris, France) | 70.670.000 | |
NKT (Holding: Brøndby, Denmark; Cables GmbH: Cologne, Germany) | 3.887.000 | |
Prysmian (Milan, Italy) | 104.613.000 | |
of which jointly and severally liable with Pirelli (Milan, Italy) | 67.310.000 | |
of which jointly and severally liable with Goldman (NYC, US) | 37.303.000 | |
Safran (Paris, France) | 8.567.000 | |
Silec (Montreau-Fault-Yonne, France) | 1.976.000 | |
of which jointly and severally liable with General Cable (Highland Heights, US) | 1.852.500 | |
of which jointly and severally liable with Safran (Paris, France) | 123.500 | |
Sumitomo (solely liable) (Japan) | 0,45 | 2.630.000 |
Hitachi (solely liable) (Tokyo, Japan) | 0,45 | 2.346.000 |
JPS (jointly and severally liable with Sumitomo and Hitachi) (Ibaraki, Japan) | 0,45 | 20.741.000 |
Furukawa (solely liable) (Tokyo, Japan) | 8.858.000 | |
Fujikura (solely liable) (Tokyo, Japan) | 8.152.000 | |
VISCAS (jointly and severally liable with Furukawa and Fujikura) (Tokyo, Japan) | 34.992.000 | |
SWCC Showa (solely liable) (Tokyo, Japan) | 844.000 | |
Mitsubishi (solely liable) (Tokyo, Japan) | 750.000 | |
EXSYM (jointly and severally liable with Showa and Mitsubishi) (Tokyo, Japan) | 6.551.000 | |
LS Cable (Anyang, South Korea) | 11.349.000 | |
Taihan (Anyang, South Korea) | 6.223.000 | |
Total | 301.639.000 |
Participating ECDA member law firms
ECDA coordinator: Chrissy Lind
Phone +49(0)30 611 28 40-10
info@ecda-online.com
Postal address:
European Cartel Damage Alliance e.V. (ECDA)
Magazinstraße 15-16
10179 Berlin / Germany