ECA Announces Action Against Cartel In

On 2 February 2024, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) announced that they discovered price fixing among 20 manufacturers of ice blocks for commercial use. This collusion primarily affected commercial customers. Still, the ECA particularly highlighted the indirect implications of the violations for consumers, putting the case in the context of the ECA's wider focus on competition law violations with effects on consumer prices.

The ECA found that the 20 manufacturers engaged in three separate horizontal agreements aimed at collectively raising and fixing prices for commercial use ice blocks across the Egyptian capital and the greater Cairo metropolitan area. In the view of the ECA these arrangements constituted price fixing and thus violations of article (6)(a) Egyptian Competition Law (Law 3/2005).