South korea: South Korea's fair trade watchdog has announced a historic decision to impose a 747.6 billion-won (US$488.7 million) fine on four major starch producers for engaging in price fixing. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) determined that Daesang Corp., Sajo CPK Ltd., Samyang Corp., and CJ CheilJedang Corp. colluded to fix the prices of starch and starch sugars over a period extending from May 2018 to October 2025. This penalty represents the largest fine ever levied in a single price-rigging case by the FTC.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the FTC's investigation revealed that starch and starch sugar products are integral to the food production industry, including the making of confectionery, bread, noodles, beverages, and beer. Beyond consumables, these products are also essential in manufacturing sectors such as paper and steel production. The FTC emphasized that any increase in starch prices has widespread effects across various industries, with the related sales volume estimated at 6.05 trillion won.

The FTC uncovered that executives from the involved companies reached a consensus on price fixing, with further discussions on specifics like price targets and timing occurring during subsequent working-level meetings. To address this issue, the FTC has mandated that these companies reset prices to pre-collusion levels and report any price changes to the authorities every six months over the next three years.

The FTC expressed concerns that the companies, given their dominant positions in the market, might engage in future price-rigging activities. The four firms currently control 95.7 percent of the business-to-business starch market and 86.4 percent of the starch sugars market. The watchdog noted that the industry's requirement for large-scale equipment has limited new entrants, allowing these companies to maintain their market dominance for two decades.

Furthermore, the FTC pointed out that the firms collaborated in purchasing raw materials, such as corn, from international suppliers, resulting in similar production cost structures. The quality of their products remains largely standardized, which facilitated their collusion.