US chicken producers ordered to face price-fixing claims

Pilgrims Pride

01/07/2023 24:44

By Jonathan Stempel
       June 30 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday said
Pilgrim's Pride  PPC.O , Sanderson Farms, Tyson Foods  TSN.N 
and several other companies must face private antitrust
litigation accusing them of conspiring to inflate broiler
chicken prices by reducing supply.
    Restaurants, supermarkets, distributors and consumers have
accused chicken producers of having conspired starting in 2008
to inflate prices, through tactics such as restricting
production and sharing nonpublic data about supply and demand.
    In a 90-page decision, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in
Chicago said reasonable jurors could find it more likely than
not that Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson and Tyson conspired to fix
prices.
    "There are numerous examples of supposed competitors
regularly exchanging sensitive production data with each other,"
Durkin wrote. "A jury could find that such conduct is not the
behavior of active competitors."
    But the judge also narrowed the case to cover alleged
"anomalous decreases in broiler production" in 2008-2009 and
2011-2012.
    Durkin dismissed claims relating to supply cuts in 2015-2016
and alleged manipulation of the Georgia Dock broiler price
index, saying evidence of a conspiracy was "weak."
    He also dismissed claims against other producers including
Perdue, as well as against Agri Stats, whose reports about the
industry allegedly let producers monitor each other's production
and pricing activities.
    Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson and Tyson did not immediately
respond to requests for comment after market hours.
    The companies have previously settled claims with some of
the plaintiffs, including $221.5 million of settlements
announced by Tyson.
    Pilgrim's Pride is owned mainly by Brazil's JBS SA
 JBSS3.SA .
    The case is In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, U.S.
District Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 16-08637.
    

 (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Edwina
Gibbs)
 ((jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6317; Reuters
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))