농민신문사가 발주한 인쇄용지 입찰에서 낙찰 예정자와 입찰가격 등을 사전에 짠 제지업체 6곳이 공정 당국의 제재를 받았다.
The Fair Trade Commission announced that it has imposed corrective orders and fines totaling 3 billion won (approximately $2.3 million) on six companies—Moorim SP, Moorim Paper, Moorim P&P, Hansol Paper, Korea Paper, and Hongwon Paper—for violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. Hansol Paper and Korea Paper will also be referred to prosecutors.
According to the commission, these companies colluded on the bid prices and winning bidders for six printing paper contracts issued by the Farmers' Newspaper from June 2021 to November 2024.
The total winning bid amounts for the six contracts were approximately 20.473 billion won. These six companies hold over 95% of the domestic printing paper market share based on their projected 2024 revenues, and about 81% when including imported printing paper.
The companies coordinated through meetings and phone calls before the bids to set the winning bidder and bid prices, aiming to prevent low bids and maintain a high winning rate.
The average winning rate during the collusion period was about 96.2%, peaking at 99.4%. This is 8.6 percentage points higher than the average winning rate of 87.6% during the non-collusive period from 2018 to 2020.
The companies also colluded on the prices of all types of printing paper around the same time. The Fair Trade Commission determined that the paper companies sought to limit competition in the Farmers' Newspaper bids as an extension of their price-fixing efforts, thereby keeping both the winning bid prices and the market prices for printing paper at elevated levels.
This action follows the commission's April enforcement against price collusion in the printing paper sector, where it uncovered additional bid rigging by the same companies.
A commission official stated, "We will continue to strengthen monitoring of collusion in the paper industry and impose strict penalties in accordance with the law when detected."
The Fair Trade Commission announced that it has imposed corrective orders and fines totaling 3 billion won (approximately $2.3 million) on six companies—Moorim SP, Moorim Paper, Moorim P&P, Hansol Paper, Korea Paper, and Hongwon Paper—for violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. Hansol Paper and Korea Paper will also be referred to prosecutors.
According to the commission, these companies colluded on the bid prices and winning bidders for six printing paper contracts issued by the Farmers' Newspaper from June 2021 to November 2024.
The total winning bid amounts for the six contracts were approximately 20.473 billion won. These six companies hold over 95% of the domestic printing paper market share based on their projected 2024 revenues, and about 81% when including imported printing paper.
The companies coordinated through meetings and phone calls before the bids to set the winning bidder and bid prices, aiming to prevent low bids and maintain a high winning rate.
The average winning rate during the collusion period was about 96.2%, peaking at 99.4%. This is 8.6 percentage points higher than the average winning rate of 87.6% during the non-collusive period from 2018 to 2020.
The companies also colluded on the prices of all types of printing paper around the same time. The Fair Trade Commission determined that the paper companies sought to limit competition in the Farmers' Newspaper bids as an extension of their price-fixing efforts, thereby keeping both the winning bid prices and the market prices for printing paper at elevated levels.
This action follows the commission's April enforcement against price collusion in the printing paper sector, where it uncovered additional bid rigging by the same companies.
A commission official stated, "We will continue to strengthen monitoring of collusion in the paper industry and impose strict penalties in accordance with the law when detected."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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