RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s antitrust authority has penalized 14 cement companies with a collective fine of SR140 million ($37.32 million) for colluding to raise cement prices in the Kingdom. The General Authority for Competition has imposed an SR10 million fine on each of the producers for manipulating the cement prices to benefit themselves, infringing Article 4 of the Competition Law. The law prohibits practices, agreements, or contracts among competing firms that lead to controlling the prices of goods and services intended for sale by increasing or decreasing them to harm the market. The companies which are penalized include Al Safwa Cement Co., City Cement Co., Al-Jouf Cement Co., Umm Al-Qura Co., Qassim Cement Co., Najran Cement Co., Southern Province Cement Co., United Cement Industrial Co., Yamama Cement Co., Riyadh Cement Co. Arabian Cement Co., Saudi Cement Co. and Hail Cement Co. and Yanbu Cement Co, the authority revealed in a release. The authority said it received complaints that several companies in the cement sector had manipulated the prices to benefit themselves. Following this, the GAC board approved starting an investigation into these claims and found that these companies violated the Competition Law by raising cement prices. The GAC added that the resolutions were published at the expense of the violators, noting that all of them were final, as the Administrative Court of Appeal in Riyadh dismissed the challenges filed by those firms. The authority also called upon all establishments to abide by the Competition Law and its regulations to encourage consumer choices and support market growth and efficiency within a framework of fairness and transparency. Earlier this month, GAC also announced penalties against two enterprises for collusion in a project at Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones, also known as MODON, with a total fine of SR2.11 million. In March, the antitrust regulator also increased the minimum turnover threshold for merger control filings from SR100 million to SR200 million, which should reduce the number of unnecessary notifications. It increased the notification threshold based on its annual review of its policies, which takes into account “international best practices, aspects relating to the variables of the national economy, and the level of market competitiveness.” In addition, the GAC noted that the decision would “facilitate procedures and alleviate financial burdens, especially on small and medium-sized companies.”