Peru: Authority finds price-fixing among maritime shippers

Peru’s trade authority announced on Friday that it was evaluating fines for 17 maritime shipping companies for fixing prices to importers and exporters.

Peru’s antitrust regulator, Indecopi, said in a statement that it had sufficient evidence that the international shipping companies colluded to raise prices by 10% to 25% for shipments travelling between Lima’s port of Callao and Asia.

“The evidence collected comes from meeting minutes, emails and digital files obtained during inspections, which demonstrate that the investigated companies established a platform to coordinate and implement their decisions through shipping agents to set rates (freight and surcharges) for cargo transported along the Peru-Asia route from at least 2009 to 2013,” reads the Indecopi statement.

The shipping companies Indecopi listed among the conspirators include American President Lines, APM terminals CMA CGM, Compañia Maritima Chilena, CSAV, Hamburg Sud, Hapag Lloyd, K Line, Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company, Mitsui OSK Lines and NYK Line.

Possible fines under Peruvian law start at $560,000 and go up to 8% to 12% of each company’s revenue within Peru. The implicated companies have 30 days to appeal the Indecopi decision. The sanctions review can take up to a year and a half to complete.

“The Indecopi decision fits with what we perceive,” Juan Carlos Leon, a representative for Peru’s ADEX exporters association, told El Comercio. “Every dollar of overcharging that we pay means a loss of competitiveness for our exports.”

Full content: Peru Reports

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