As alleged in the complaint, by depressing prices at Argo, ADM depressed the revenues which Plaintiff and other ethanol producers received for their First Level Sales of ethanol made either at the Argo Terminal market (“Argo”) or pursuant to First Level Sales Contracts expressly based, in whole or in part, on a Formula Price, i.e., on a Chicago Benchmark price, a Chicago Ethanol Derivatives price, or a Chicago OPIS price.
Specifically, it is alleged that between November 1, 2017 and September 4, 2019 (“Class Period”), Defendant ADM, in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 2 (“Sherman Act”), intentionally acted uneconomically to divert and ship large supplies of ethanol into the Argo Terminal market, flood Argo with ethanol supplies, and to reduce aggressively its offers and hit bids in the Argo sales market to become a dominant seller of ethanol at Argo. Through this and other uneconomic and unlawful conduct, ADM acquired and maintained the market power to depress and ADM did depress prices in the Argo market and Formula Prices.
The case is brought on behalf of “All Persons who, after November 1, 2017, made First Level Sales of ethanol in the Argo market or pursuant to a First Level Sales Contract in which the price term is expressly based, in whole or in part, on a Chicago Benchmark Price, Chicago OPIS Price, or a Chicago Ethanol Derivatives Price. This includes price terms which are based on an average, a mean, or another formula using one or more of the foregoing prices.”
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