Several large firms, including Citrosuco, Cutrale and Louis Dreyfus Co. in Brazil have become defendants in a class-action lawsuit seeking billions in damages over an alleged price-fixing scheme that ran between 1999 and 2006. Federal Prosecutor Karen Kahn said the Sao Paulo Court of Justice will hear claims in a lawsuit filed against several . As said earlier, these include Citrosuco, Cutrale and Louis Dreyfus Co, which account for most of the world's orange juice output.
The alleged cartel harmed citrus growers and was investigated by Brazil's antitrust regulator Cade. In 2016, the watchdog and the companies reached an agreement for a payment of 301 million reais to settle the case. The class-action lawsuit was filed by the prosecutors in March, more than 20 years after the first accusations were made. Prosecutors are seeking 12.7 billion reais ($2.51 billion) in damages, exceeding annual revenue from orange juice exports in the 2021/2022 season, which totaled $1.62 billion.
Source: reuters.com