Negotiations on behalf of the joint venture will be conducted by that venture's employees or an independent party hired by the joint venture rather than by employees of the owner firms. Communications between the joint venture negotiators and an owner firm will be kept confidential. For example, it will not be shared with other owner firms. All meetings of the joint venture's board of directors will be monitored by counsel, and discussions will be limited to publicly-available information related to Chinese barite. Barite is a soft, dense, chemically inert material that is used as a weighing agent in oil well-drilling fluids to counteract certain pressures that result from well drilling and operation.
China is the world's largest barite producer, accounting for about a third of total production.
About 42 percent of barite consumed in the U.S. consumption comes from China. Under the Department's Business Review Procedure, an organization may submit a proposed action to the Antitrust Division and receive a statement as to whether the Division will challenge the action under the antitrust laws. After a 30-day waiting period, the documents supporting the business review will be added to the file.