Global: American Antitrust Institute wants potash oligopoly cracked

The American Antitrust Institute released a report calling for a global crackdown on the world’s fertilizer industry, which is plagued by collusion so rampant the market now has a “global super cartel,” say reports.

The report, penned by Diani Moss of the AAI as well as Professor C. Robert Raylor from Auburn University, says that the world’s potash industry is controlled by two government-sanctioned associations, US-based PhosChem and Canada-based Canpotex, as well as one private monopoly (likely controlled by the Moroccan government) and three companies in the former Soviet Union. It’s a structure leading to anticompetitive collusion between the companies and a highly manipulated market.

Now, the AAI says, regulators much act to break such market structure; global watchdogs must coordinate an enforcement response against the industry and restore competition. The report suggests “civil and criminal penalties” to deter such collusion.

Full Content: Corporate Crime Reporter

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