The Competition Commission has lodged a complaint with the Competition Tribunal against Japanese company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha.
The firm is one of four companies investigated by the commission found to have been involved in a cartel transporting Toyota vehicles by sea, for that company, to and from South Africa between 2002 and 2013.
The commission outlined that the firms fixed prices, divided markets and tendered collusively for tenders issued by Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) for the shipment of vehicles to South Africa, and from South Africa to a variety of transit and end destinations.
In the complaint, the commission pointed to the respondents agreeing on the number of vessels each were to operate at agreed intervals on agreed routes, along with the freight rates charged to TSAM.
“Two companies in the cartel paid the highest administrative penalties [in] the [tribunal’s] 2015/16 financial year, namely Japanese company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, which paid R103.9-million, and and Norwegian company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, which paid R95.6-million.
Japanese firm Mitsui OSK Lines was not fined as it was the first to approach the commission and cooperated in the investigation.