Germany's Federal Cartel Office Bundeskartellamt has announced the imposition of further fines amounting to almost €100 million on eight rail companies in a case involving price fixing for train track rails, with Essen-based ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik GmbH and voestalpine BWG GmbH being among the companies in question.
German steel giant ThyssenKrupp stated that its Essen-based subsidiary ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik GmbH has received a second fine of €88 million in the rail cartel case. With this second fine, the allegations against ThyssenKrupp in connection with the rail cartel have now been fully and finally settled.
In calculating the fines, Bundeskartellamt took into account the cooperation of the companies, the respective duration of their cartel involvement and their willingness to terminate the proceedings by settlement.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in July 2012 Bundeskartellamt imposed a fine of €103 million on ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik in the rail cartel case. The investigations started in 2011 involving up to 10 steel and rail companies for operating an illegal cartel for at least a decade to fix the price of rails.