(123rf)

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog has fined three paper manufacturers a total of 30.5 billion won ($21.8 million) for colluding to raise newsprint prices.

According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission on Thursday, Jeonju Paper, Daehan Paper and Paper Korea engaged in price-fixing by twice raising prices by 60,000 won per ton, in 2021 and 2022. The companies also pressured local newspaper companies that resisted the price hikes by reducing their supply of newsprint.

The three companies are dominant players, collectively controlling the newsprint market in Korea.

Following the investigation, Jeonju Paper received the largest fine of 14.85 billion won, with Daehan Paper and Paper Korea fined 9.88 billion won and 5.82 billion won, respectively. Jeonju Paper was also referred to the prosecution for further investigation.

The antitrust watchdog explained that the companies appeared to have colluded to raise prices in an effort to maintain profitability amid shrinking domestic demand for newsprint and rising costs of imported materials.

“These companies caused significant harm to newspaper publishers by raising the price of essential newsprint, which also increased the financial burden on citizens subscribing to print newspapers,” an FTC official said. The average monthly subscription fee for print newspapers in 2022 rose by 1,560 won, a 21.52 percent increase from 2020.