COMPETITION: INDUSTRIAL THREAD CARTEL FACING EURO 43 MILLION FINE.

Industrial thread is used in a variety of industries to sew or embroider various products such as clothes, home furnishings, automotive seats and seatbelts, leather goods, mattresses, footwear, and ropes. The Commission's investigation showed that three cartel agreements had been in operation:

- on the market in thread for industrial customers in Benelux and the Nordic countries from January 1990 until September 2001,

- on the market in thread for industrial customers in the United Kingdom from October 1990 until September 1996,

- on the market in thread for automotive customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) from May/June 1998 until 15 May 2000.

According to the Commission, the thread producers involved in the three cartels took part in regular meetings and had bilateral contacts to agree on price increases and/or on target prices, to exchange sensitive information on price lists and/or prices charged to individual customers, and to avoid undercutting the incumbent suppliers prices with a view to allocating customers.

In fixing the amount of the fine, the Commission took account of the seriousness, the duration of the infringements, the existence of any aggravating or mitigating circumstances and the individual weight of the companies in the infringements in the different markets. Some companies that had co-operated with the Commission's investigation were treated with leniency as a result.

British group Coats Ltd received the largest fine in the Benelux and Nordic...