Wood-based panel cartel fined €42m

Germany’s competition authority, the Bundeskartellamt, has imposed fines of €42m on four panel manufacturers involved in illegal price agreements.

Glunz AG, Pfleiderer AG, Kronoply GmbH and Rauch Spanplattenwerk GmbH have all been fined, while Egger Holzwerkstoffe Brilon GmbH & Co KG, which also participated in the price agreements, was granted immunity from fines in accordance with the authority's leniency programme.

“A customer of the cartel informed the Bundeskartellamt of the possible violations,” said the authority’s Andreas Mundt.

“For many years the companies involved agreed on the prices of their products and significantly restricted competition.”

One cartel concerned raw and laminated chipboard panels, MDF and HDF panels and tongue and groove chipboard panels which were supplied to trade and industry.