Prices for staple food ingredients in South Korea — from sugar to flour to starch syrup — were shaped by collusion among major food companies, regulators found, with cumulative fines against four of the firms involved, including Samyang Corp (145990) and CJ CheilJedang (097950), topping 1 trillion won. The companies went as far as delaying price cuts or narrowing them when raw material costs declined.
Samyang Corp carried the largest cumulative penalty at 435.38 billion won between 2023 and August this year, according to corporate sanction data obtained from the Fair Trade Commission by Rep. Park Hong-bae of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee. CJ CheilJedang ranked second at 373.03 billion won. Both were found to have taken part in collusion across all three product groups — sugar, flour, and starch and starch sugar — bringing their combined fines to 808.41 billion won.
Third was Sajo CPK, penalized 200.13 billion won over starch and starch sugar collusion. Sajo Dongaone (008040), sanctioned over flour collusion, ranked fourth at 183.1 billion won. All four companies with the highest cumulative fines were implicated in food-related collusion, and their penalties totaled 1.19 trillion won.
The figures reflect amounts recorded in the commission's sanction data and differ from what the companies actually paid. Samyang Corp had the entire 210.3 billion won assessed over starch and starch sugar collusion waived in August through the leniency program for self-reporting participants.
The commission's investigation revealed a methodical scheme. Four starch and starch sugar makers — Daesang, Sajo CPK, Samyang Corp and CJ CheilJedang — fixed selling prices for seven years and five months, from May 2018 through October last year. When corn, the main raw material, rose in price, they agreed on price increases on eight occasions. When raw material costs fell, they agreed five times to keep price reductions to a minimum and delay them as long as possible.
Whether prices came down depended on the size of the customer. Large buyers that pressed for reductions received partial cuts, while smaller clients and dealers were kept at existing prices as long as possible. The companies coordinated in advance the exchange rates and raw material prices they would cite as justification for price changes, along with the timing of notices sent to customers. To verify that notices went out as agreed, they visited one another's offices and even accompanied each other to the post office, monitoring compliance.
The four companies' combined share of the domestic business-to-business market reached 95.7% for starch and 86.4% for starch sugar. Starch sugar is processed into starch syrup, glucose and fructose and used in a wide range of foods including snacks, beverages and bread. Companies controlling nearly the entire market, in effect, jointly decided not only price increases but price cuts as well.
In the flour market, government subsidies meant to stabilize consumer prices failed to stop the collusion. Seven milling companies, including CJ CheilJedang, Samyang Corp and Sajo Dongaone, reached 24 agreements on flour supply prices and volumes over roughly six years, from November 2019 through October last year. The collusion continued even while the government paid out a total of 47.1 billion won in subsidies in 2022 to stabilize flour prices. Along with the fines, the commission ordered the companies to set their prices independently without consulting competitors.
"Sugar, flour and starch sugar are basic raw materials used across household kitchens and the restaurant industry," Park said. "For major food companies to collude on these products adds to the burden on household grocery bills and to the cost pressures facing small business owners." He added, "The Fair Trade Commission must thoroughly verify compliance with corrective measures after sanctions and strengthen its monitoring of collusion in the food sector."
