Latin American Economy & Business - November 2015 (ISSN 1741-7430)

CMPC and SCA accused of running a cartel: Chile's economic prosecutions office (Fiscalía Nacional Económica) accused the powerful CMPC group (controlled by the Matte family) and Swedish-owned SCA of operating a price cartel in the country's paper products market for over 10 years. In a complaint filed with the competition tribunal (Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia – TDLC), the FNE said the two companies colluded on fixing quotas and prices on toilet paper, paper towels, paper serviettes, facial tissues, and cosmetic tissues. The two companies have combined sales in Chile of around US$400m per annum and control 90% of the market. CMPC owner Eliodoro Matte officially apologised to the public and the company’s consumers for what he described as “these repudiable acts”. President Michelle Bachelet said the matter was “very serious” and that she would submit a bill in congress raising the level of fines for market rigging. Apart from Chile, CMPC, which is also involved in forestry and cellulose, has operations in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay.