Although experience internationally shows that cartels may exist in almost any industry, there are certain industry structures and commercial
activities and / or factors that may increase the risk of cartel formation, including: - customers that make regular, repetitive purchases by way of competitive tender; - competitors that know each other well through social contact,
trade associations, shifting employment or other legitimate
activities; - companies with immature corporate governance systems which fail to pay sufficient attention to compliance issues; - price or margin increases in a depressed market; - unexplained reluctance to compete on price and / or in particular areas and / or in respect of particular products; - unexplained reluctance to increase output; - unexplained pricing or market share stability in a previously
volatile market; and - regular unexplained parallel price increases.
We expect
trading activity to pick up today, as US markets return to action, and that could cause more
volatile moves than in the last few days.