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Brazil’s antitrust watchdog fines logistics giant for unfair competition

Brazil’s antitrust watchdog fines logistics giant for unfair competition
Photo: Ariadne Barroso/Shutterstock

Antitrust authority Cade announced on Wednesday that it has fined logistics company Rumo BRL 247.1 million (USD 43.6 million) for having imposed difficulties on a rival railroad company regarding its sugar exports.

The case refers to an investigation opened in 2016 after logistics company Agrovia accused Rumo of creating obstacles regarding the former’s sugar shipments to the Port of Santos by way of São Paulo’s state railway network — controlled by Rumo.

The complaint was reinforced by an investigation conducted by the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT), which then revealed that Rumo had closed off the Santa Adélia yard in São Paulo — essential for Agrovia’s activities during the period. The ban ended up making it impossible for Agrovia to provide services to its customers during the off-season.

That same year, Agrovia was unable to maintain its activities and withdrew from the market, causing a large part of the demand previously met by the company to be reallocated to Rumo, which benefited from the absence of its competitor, according to Cade.