Amcor, the leading packaging supplier in the country, is alleged to have charged up to 20 per cent more than it should have for its corrugated fibreboard since 2000, fixing its prices in a cartel with the Visy group.
The pair accounts for about 90 per cent of Australia's annual A$2 billion corrugated box market.
Visy is already being prosecuted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which alleges that between January and April 2000, it entered into an "over-arching understanding" with Amcor to fix the prices of corrugated fibreboard containers and to reduce competition for each other's customers.
The ACCC also claims that the two firms agreed to increase the prices of the cardboard for non-contract customers each year from 2000 to 2004.
Although Amcor was granted immunity from the proceedings in return for blowing the whistle in late 2004, lawyers at Maurice Blackburn Cashman now say they will use admissions made by Amcor in the Visy case to get compensation for an estimated 17,000 companies who have been impacted by the cartel.
The class action is being led by Ian Liddle, who says he had to close his banana-packing business, Jarra Creek Central Packing Shed, in 2004 due to high cardboard costs.
But Ben Slade, principal lawyer at MBC, told AP-Foodtechnology.com that there were thousands more companies affected by the high prices, particularly fruit and vegetable growers. Under the action, Riddle will represent any party who paid more than A$100,000 for corrugated fibreboard from either Amcor or Visy between 1 May 2000 and 1 May 2005 and suffered loss by reason of the cartel.
Slade says some of the bigger food makers could yet join the class action case.
The Visy case has already named several leading food and beverage makers as being affected by the alleged price-fixing, including Coca-Cola Amatil, Goodman Fielder, Cadbury Schweppes and Lion Nathan. But the AACC is not seeking any damages for businesses that were overcharged for their cardboard boxes.
MBC's class action will allow Visy customers to seek damages from Amcor, and if successful, Amcor could sue Visy for its share of damages paid out.
The case alleges that Amcor and Visy were charging between 8 and 23 per cent more for their cardboard. According to Slade, the companies agreed on a floor price - Amcor would not charge less than $1,250 per ton of fibreboard while Visy would not charge more than 1,150 per ton (it uses more recycled paper than Amcor).
"As far as we can tell, the cartel was within Australia where until recently it was very difficult for external companies to enter this market," he added.
The corrugated box division accounted for about 9 per cent of Amcor's A$10.4 billion (€6bn) sales in fiscal 2004 and about 8 per cent of the group's A$831 million in operating profit.
In a statement the company said the class action "contains allegations only. These are not admissions by any party and evidence will have to be proved in court".
It added that should the class action proceed, "it is likely to take some years".
Slade said the action would "definitely take more than two years but hopefully less than five". He added however that the investigations are expected to make an immediate impact on the marketplace.
Maurice Blackburn Cashman won Australia's biggest class action in 2003.
