6 chicken-processing firms and association fined for price fixing

Economy 12:00 May 12, 2022

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's antitrust regulator said Thursday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 699 million won (US$546,500) on six poultry-processing firms and their association for fixing prices and supplies of poultry.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said industry leader Harim Co. and eight other chicken-processing companies colluded to fix prices and supplies of indigenous breeds of chickens between May 2013 and April 2017.

The regulator also said the Korean Native Chicken Association, a group dedicated to nurturing the traditional poultry industry, also preset sales prices and supplies of chickens between December 2011 and October 2016.

Of the nine poultry firms, the regulator has decided to slap a fine of 595 million won on six companies, including Harim with the largest amount of 303 million won. The association will be also fined 104 million won.

The FTC has taken punitive actions against similar price collusion by chicken-processing companies since last year. In March, it slapped a combined 175.8 billion won in fines on 15 poultry companies for price fixing.