BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to look into suspicions that three ethanol producers have colluded to manipulate benchmark prices used by the industry, it said on Monday.
The Commission said it was assessing the actions of Spanish producer Abengoa SA (MC:ABG), Belgium's Alcogroup SA and Lantmännen ek för
It had concerns that the companies may have colluded to manipulate ethanol benchmarks published by the price reporting agency Platts, such as by agreeing to submit or support bids to hike the benchmark and so drive up ethanol prices, it said in a statement.
Platts said it had not been charged with any wrong-doing and was not an addressee of the European Commission's statement of objections in relation to its ethanol pricing investigation.
"Platts price assessment processes are independent and are based on observed transactional data as well as other market information, which are then subject to verification and tested against real market conditions in order to attain relevance," Platts spokesman Alex Brog said in an emailed statement.
"While we do not impute buyer's and seller's motivation for trading, we investigate reports of price distortions and our governance processes enable us to exclude data that does not adhere to our published methodology. Platts will continue to cooperate fully with the EC's review," he added.
It was not clear if the biofuels probe was related to searches of the energy trading desks of three major oil companies in 2013 by the European Commission.
The European Commission said the practise could lead to a reduction in the use of biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, with negative consequences for consumers and the environment.
"Competitive biofuels markets are crucial to promote cleaner transport and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This is an important element of the Commission's ambitious strategy to limit greenhouse gas emissions and to boost renewable energies," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
The Commission is also looking into whether producers or traders of bioethanol fixed prices or shared markets and customers, with a series of unannounced inspections carried out in March.