ANTITRUST | ICA ascertained a cartel in the Italian market for the sale of iron castings

On 31 December 2025, with resolution No. n. 31785, the Italian Competition Authority (the ICA) has sanctioned different undertakings and an association of undertakings (altogether, the Parties) for implementing an anticompetitive cartel (the Cartel) in the Italian market for the sale of cast iron castings, in violation of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. According to the ICA, the Cartel had been in place for at least twenty years and was enforced through the exchange of sensitive information between the Parties and the joint development of price indexing mechanisms that allowed them to update an increasingly large part of the price of iron castings, including the sales margin. The Cartel aimed to support requests for price increases and strengthen bargaining power in relation to demand, especially at times when the economic situation was negative.

Newsletter n. 114 – January 2026