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Sasol fertiliser fine raised

Reuters | Tue, 19 May 2009 20:02
[miningmx.com] -- South Africa's Sasol will pay a higher fine than initially agreed with competition authorities after it admitted to additional charges in a fertiliser price fixing case, the firm said on Tuesday.

Sasol and the Competition Commission said in separate statements that the petrochemicals group would now pay R250.68m ($29.63m) as a penalty for fixing prices in the fertiliser and phosphoric acid sectors, up from the R188m announced two weeks ago.

"It is only now after intensive repeat interviews with employees and former employees that additional new information relevant to one of the previously announced contraventions in the fertilizer business has been uncovered," the firm said.

The competition authority said earlier this month that Sasol -- which was fined 318 million euros by the European Commission last year for its role in a paraffin wax price-fixing cartel -- had divided markets and fixed prices along with its competitors, Omnia and Yara.

The deals also led to Sasol becoming the sole wholesale supplier of limestone ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser product.

Sasol shares slipped 0.5 percent to R298 by 1247 GMT, compared with a 1.72 percent rise in the Top 40 index.

The competition authority also said Sasol and phosphate and phosphoric acid producer Foskor had a deal by which Foskor became the sole supplier of phosphoric acid in South Africa.

The authority said the amended fine would now amount to 8 percent of the Sasol Nitro division's turnover from the initial 6 percent.

Sasol has said it expects to conclude an overall review, which examines the competition law compliance of all its divisions, in the second half of 2009.

The authority has also launched a probe into possible price-fixing by gas and petroleum companies, including Sasol, the world's top producer of diesel from coal.




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