Chester business part of probe over alleged anti-competitive arrangements

A Chester-based company is under investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over allegations of anti-competitive arrangements.

Calder Industrial Materials is one of three companies involved in the investigation.

The other two are Associated Lead Mills and H.J Enthoven, trading as BLM British Lead, both located near London.

Associated Lead Mills and BLM British Lead are two of the UK’s largest suppliers of rolled lead and have admitted to taking part in anti-competitive arrangements and could face fines of more than £11m.

Rolled lead is an important product for the construction industry, used mainly for roofing.

The admission from Associated Lead Mills and BLM British Lead follows a CMA investigation.

Calder Industrial Materials is also under investigation in relation to one of the arrangements and has not made any admissions.

In its original provisional findings, the CMA alleged that Associated Lead Mills, BLM British Lead and Calder Industrial Materials – which together account for about 90% of UK rolled lead supplies – entered into a cartel to share the market amongst themselves through, for example, the allocation of customers.

The CMA has now revised its provisional findings and issued the three firms with a ‘supplementary statement of objections’, which outlines its updated allegations.

The CMA’s revised provisional view is that there was not a single overall cartel arrangement, but rather four individual arrangements that broke competition law.

The CMA’s revised provisional findings indicate that Associated Lead Mills and BLM British Lead entered into arrangements including:

• Sharing the market, including by arranging not to target certain customers
• Colluding on prices
• Exchanging commercially-sensitive information on prices
• Arranging not to supply a new business that risked disrupting the firms’ existing customer relationships and was also a potential competitor in the market

In the light of the CMA’s updated provisional findings, both Associated Lead Mills and BLM British Lead have now admitted to their parts in these arrangements, which took place between October 2015 and March 2017.

The two firms have agreed to pay maximum fines totalling more than £11m, although the exact amount will be determined at the end of the CMA’s investigation, if there is a formal final decision that the law has been broken.

With regard to Calder Industrial Materials, the CMA has provisionally found that it became involved, at a later stage, in the arrangement with Associated Lead Mills and BLM British Lead not to supply a new business that risked disrupting the firms’ customer relationships and was a potential competitor in the market.

Calder Industrial Materials has made no admission of liability and the CMA’s investigation is continuing.

The CM A said no assumption should be made that Calder Industrial Materials has broken the law.

Calder Industrial Materials said in a statement to TheBusinessDesk.com: “Today the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a press release in relation to its ongoing investigation into suspected anti-competitive arrangements in the UK roofing materials sector.

“The press release confirms that the CMA has reached a settlement with the parent companies of Associated Lead Mills (ALM) and British Lead Mills (BLM) who have admitted to allegations that they entered into anti-competitive agreements involving: Sharing the market, including by arranging not to target certain customers; colluding on prices; exchanging commercially sensitive information on prices; and arranging not to supply a new business that risked disrupting the firms’ existing customer relationships and was also a potential competitor in the market.

“The CMA has found that Calder did not participate in the anti-competitive agreements between ALM and BLM relating to market sharing, collusion on prices or the exchange of commercially sensitive information.

“The case against Calder is now limited to a single allegation that it agreed with ALM and BLM not to supply another company operating as an agent. Calder continues to strongly deny this allegation and will be responding to the CMA’s supplementary statement of objections, which was also issued today, in due course.”