Norwegian Car Carrier Denies Wrongdoing
Norway-based breakbulk specialist Höegh Autoliners has been fined US$5.5 million by Brazil’s antitrust regulator for anticompetitive practices in the maritime car carrier market.
After a 6-year investigation, the Administrative Council for Economic Defence, or CADE, said it had gathered sufficient evidence to prove that Höegh and other maritime transport companies had colluded to allocate customers, maintain or inflate prices and resist client calls for lower charges.
The practices had affected the transport of automobiles on routes originating or arriving in Brazil, or when the South American country was used as a stopover.
“When vehicle manufacturers began the process of contracting or renewing contracts through competition between carriers, the latter, through the exchange of sensitive information, fixed prices and divided the market,” said lead rapporteur Luiz Braido.
Höegh is a major global provider of roll on, roll off vehicle transport services, operating a fleet of about 40 pure car and truck carrier, or PCTCs.
In an emailed statement, the company said it disagreed with CADE’s decision, and would review its merits thoroughly before making any decision on how to proceed.
The Oslo-headquartered carrier added that it and other PCTC operators had been subject to antitrust probes in nine other jurisdictions, seven of which resulted in no charges or punitive actions against the company.
“Höegh Autoliners has cooperated with the investigation in good faith, but has strongly and continuously rebutted any claims of wrongdoings in Brazil,” the company said.
CADE began its probe in early 2016 after uncovering “robust evidence” that some of the world’s largest maritime transport companies had been involved in cartel activity stretching back to 1978, with the period 2000 to 2012 under most scrutiny.
Some 80 individuals were alleged to have been involved in the wrongdoing, CADE said. Authorities in the US, the European Union and Japan had carried out search and seize operations at the headquarters of several of the companies under investigation.
According to the regulator, the case against Mitsui OSK Lines, Nissan Motor Car Carriers, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, Compañia Sud Americana de Vapores, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, Eukor Car Carriers and 54 individuals was closed after those companies had signed agreements with municipal authorities to suspend anticompetitive practices and pay more than US$6 million in pecuniary fines.
