Yavus Ermis and Ali Adiguzel from Canakkale, Turkey's major cement exporter were also present. The real powers at the Hyde Park meeting, though, were the representatives from Lafarge and Holderbank, the two companies that have traditionally dominated the cartel. Hotel records show that Yves Fraisse, vice president of Lafarge Overseas, and two other Lafarge colleagues, along with Javier Fernandez Bescos of Hispacement in Barcelona and top men from Holderbank and Blue Circle, The dominant British cement maker, were at the table. Another cartel secret committee, the Cement Task Force, carves up the European market. No French cement goes into Germany, no Italian cement is shipped into France and no European cartel members export into the British market, industry sources say.
Fear is another of the cartel's effective weapons.
If an independent ready-mix cement maker in Paris complains loudly about the price he is being charged for cement powder, then his cement supplier will all of a sudden have a shortage of the particular quality of cement powder he needs. The concrete maker will be unable to deliver his product on time and will lose business. This is how the customers are controlled. The cartel members have also purchased numerous cement import terminals on the East and Gulf coasts, giving them a hold over most of the cement imported into the United States. There are now only two independent cement importers between Boston and Houston, and one is a Mafia-controlled facility in New York.