Chile: companies colluded illegally in toilet paper market

Two Forestry companies colluded for more than a decade to control the prices of toilet paper and other products following a meeting at a golf course to end a price war, according to Chile’s competitive practices regulator.

Economy Minister Luis Felipe Cespedes said Thursday that the collusion between the market’s biggest players was outrageous and affected the poorest Chileans the most.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet called the alleged collusion by companies that control 90 per cent of the toilet paper market “extremely serious.”

The regulator said Wednesday that an antitrust court accepted its filing accusing the companies of colluding to control prices of toilet paper, napkins, absorbent towels and other products from 2000 to 2011.

“It’s one of the biggest collusion cases ever uncovered in the country,” the agency said in a statement, adding that the companies have combined annual sales of about $565 million.

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