Feds Are "Seriously" Investigating Price Fixing Among Big Three Canned Tuna Brands
The Department of Justice’s intervention in mounting lawsuits against the Big Three canned tuna brand alleging price-fixing suggests the federal authorities are treating the case very seriously. On January 20, Judge Janis Sammartino granted the Department of Justice’s motion to intervene and conduct a grand jury investigation. “With the Department of Justice intervening, this tells you as an observer that their investigation is very active,” said Christopher Lebsock, a partner at San Francisco-based Hausfeld LLP. “The comments suggest that the Department of Justice is very serious about this case.”
A slowdown in Indonesian shrimp production appears to have contributed to a firming price for large shrimp. The supply situation is not likely to change until other major producers such as India and Thailand begin their heavy exports later this spring.
In other news Vietnamese shrimp producers are accusing Chinese traders of bidding up Mekong Black Tiger Shrimp prices by telling some local processors to increase weight with injection. Reports say some Chinese shrimp buyers are injecting fillers into shrimp to make them larger and heavier in order to sell them into the Chinese market at a premium. However, companies that choose not to soak the shrimp say they not able to compete with these traders from China.
Finally, The Waterbase, a shrimp producer based in Andhra Pradesh said it was forced to close its operations for two months between November and January because of severe flooding issues. The company blamed the flooding and damage to its facilities for poor quarterly performance. "The operations at Ananthapuram factory was disrupted from 19th November, 2015 due to unprecedented floods resulting in extensive damage to stock and assets of the company," the company said in a statement.
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