"We Apologize for Flour Price-Fixing"... All Seven Flour Milling Firms' Directors Resign from Association Board

At a regular general meeting held that morning, the Korea Flour Mills Industry Association decided that all chief executives of member companies would step down from the association's board to take responsibility for the price-fixing.

The association added that it will work harder for food security and food safety, and will strive to advance the milling industry through ethical management.

The Korea Flour Mills Industry Association is made up of seven companies: Daehan Flour Mills, SAJODONGAONE, DAESUN Flour Mills, Samyang Corporation, CJ CheilJedang, Samhwa Flour Mills, and Hantop.

Earlier, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced that it would review at a full commission meeting allegations that the seven flour milling companies repeatedly colluded to set flour prices and allocate sales volumes in domestic business-to-business (B2B) transactions from November 2019 to October last year.

If collusion is confirmed, the KFTC can impose fines of up to 20% of the related sales. Some analysts estimate the total fines could reach as much as 1.2 trillion won.

The KFTC is also considering ordering the companies to reset their prices.

Recently, CJ CheilJedang, Daehan Flour Mills, Samyang Corporation and others have lowered their flour prices.