The Korean Fair Trade Commission has fined four major noodle manufacturers 135.4 billion won (approximately AUD115 million) for fixing the prices of instant noodles. The KFTC found that the four companies (who hold a combined market share of almost 100%) engaged in price fixing, collusion and illegal exchange of information from 2001 to 2010.
According to Channel News Asia, Nongshim, the largest of the companies, has denied the allegation of price fixing and may consider legal action. Nongshim accounts for about 70% of the country’s instant noodle market and is worth approximately 2 trillion won (approximately AUD1.7 billion). Nongshim was apparently fined 107.8 billion won (approximately AUD92 million) and the Commission said that the company “virtually led the cartel”.
Photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML / Foter.com / CC BY
