- Corrective orders and a fine of 3.4 billion KRW imposed on four companies for agreeing to raise prices in line with the timing and scale of raw material cost increases -
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC, Chairperson Han Ki-jeong) has decided to impose corrective orders and a fine of approximately 3.4 billion KRW on four companies that manufacture and sell stainless steel wire rod products, after detecting collusion between September 2020 and February 2022 to raise the selling price of stainless steel wire rod products.
Wire rod products refer to stainless steel that has been drawn thin and wound into a coil shape.
The companies involved are DSR Co., Ltd., Manho Steel Co., Ltd., Seah Metal Co., Ltd., and Korea Steel Rope Co., Ltd.
Stainless steel is an alloy made by adding other metals such as chromium and nickel to iron to prevent rusting, and is used in various fields such as automotive parts, household appliance parts, household and kitchen items, and water pipes, in the form of springs, bolts and nuts, screws, welding rods, and so forth.
In this case, when the cost of raw materials needed for manufacturing stainless steel wire rod products increased, the four companies agreed to raise product prices in line with the timing and scale of the raw material cost increase and to refrain from competing on price.
From September 2020 to February 2022, the four companies held a total of seven meetings and other gatherings during which they agreed to raise the unit prices of 300 stainless steel products, and each company notified its customers of the price increases via official letters.
As a result of the collusion, the companies raised the selling price of stainless steel products by 1,650 to 1,800 KRW per kilogram based on the notified prices, which caused prices to increase by 31% to 40% compared to before the collusion.
This measure follows the sanctioning of steel wire price-fixing (October 2023) and collusion in wire rope procurement bids (December 2024), and is significant as it represents another case of detecting collusion among steel product processing companies. It strictly penalizes price-fixing practices that take advantage of fluctuations in raw material costs.
Going forward, the KFTC will strengthen monitoring of collusion involving intermediate goods that have significant ripple effects across industries, and will take strict action when violations of the law are detected.