A total fine of 1.3 billion KRW has been imposed on steel companies that engaged in bid rigging for 13 years in the private and public sector wire rope procurement bids, and some of these companies will also face prosecution.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission announced on the 9th that it has decided to impose correction orders along with a total fine of 1.35 billion KRW on KISWIRE, Manho Steel, and DSR Steel for violating the Fair Trade Act. Manho Steel has been decided to be reported to the prosecution.
The fines for each company are 520 million KRW for KISWIRE, 519 million KRW for Manho, and 315 million KRW for DSR.
Wire rope refers to a type of rope made with metal strands, used for moving heavy objects.
The companies are accused of colluding by agreeing in advance on bid winners or sharing bid prices in a total of 34 private and public sector wire rope bids from 2009 to 2022.
It was investigated that in 21 bids ordered by 6 private companies, the companies agreed that the company with previous transactions with the ordering company would continue to win the bid.
Furthermore, KISWIRE and Manho agreed to alternately win bids in odd and even years, respectively, for 13 bids ordered by the Korea Coal Corporation.
The Fair Trade Commission found that they organized meetings in advance or communicated through KakaoTalk and phone calls to agree on bid winners and dummy participants to prevent profitability deterioration due to low-priced bids.
Through these agreements, the three companies were able to successfully win all 34 bids as agreed.
A Fair Trade Commission official stated, “We have uncovered long-term bid rigging by companies with a combined market share of 90%,” and added, “We will strengthen monitoring of steel products with significant ripple effects across the industry and take strict measures if any violations are detected.”