MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazilian corporation becomes ‘orange juice king’ of the world
Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia announced the EU approval of the merger Citrovita and Citrosuco of Brazil won European Union antitrust approval for their merger plan to form the world’s largest wholesale supplier of orange juice.
The European Commission “is satisfied that there will remain sufficient competition and that European consumers will not be negatively impacted”, Joaquin Almunia the EU competition commissioner, said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday.
Citrovita, controlled by Sao Paulo-based Votorantim Participacoes SA, and Citrosuco, controlled by Matao, Brazil- based Grupo Fischer, said last May they would merge.
European regulators opened an in-depth probe in January when they said the deal may raise competition problems because the merged company would have a “strong” market position for by-products such as orange oils and essences.
Wednesday’s decision “represents an important step in the process to create the new company” Citrovita and Citrosuco said in an e-mailed joint statement. “However, the completion of the merger process still requires the approval of the Brazilian antitrust agency”.
The antitrust arm of Brazil’s finance ministry, known as SEAE, has already recommended that regulator Cade approve the deal without conditions.
Citrosuco and Citrovita own six processing plants in Brazil, one in Florida and eight port terminals in Brazil, Europe and Asia.
Top Comments
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Read all commentsThis may be fine for the EU, but the USA will use this 'monopoly' to keep Brasil from exporting OJ to the detriment of California.
May 05th, 2011 - 09:13 pm 0Hey Retard,
May 06th, 2011 - 01:33 am 0If you did your homework, you would know that Brazil (State of Sao Paulo) export OJ to California through Florida (and other states in the US).
http://thepackagingpro.com/blog/item/43-another-american-business-in-trouble
In February 2011 the World Trade Organization (WTO) made a final ruling in Brazil’s favor in a dispute with the United States over anti-dumping measures imposed on its orange juice exports. Brazil challenged the methodology, “zeroing,” that the US Department of Commerce used in applying antidumping tariffs on Brazilian orange juice. The US Department of Commerce uses “zeroing” for assessing duties on goods that are allegedly “dumped,” or imported for less than they cost at home. According to the WTO, in zeroing, the importing authorities ignore shipments where imported goods are higher than domestic market prices and could potentially offset separate below-market shipments from the country. Many countries argue that this practice skews the average price of goods from a given country, and in this case, the WTO agreed.
May 06th, 2011 - 10:00 am 0But, like with the 2010 cotton USA/Brasil WTO ruling, the game of tariff restrictions and other trade blocking devices continues.
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