South Korea Fines Six Paper Makers 3.009 Billion Won Over Printing-Paper Bid Rigging

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission said on 9 September that it had imposed corrective orders and fines totalling 3.009 billion won on six printing-paper manufacturers for rigging tenders run by the newspaper publisher Nongmin Shinmun. The six companies are Moorim SP, Moorim Paper, Moorim P&P, Hansol Paper, Hankuk Paper and Hongwon Paper.

According to Asia Today and Nocut News, the suppliers agreed in advance on which firm would win each contract, which firms would take part as cover bidders and what prices each would submit. The arrangement covered six printing-paper purchase tenders held between June 2021 and November 2024. The commission, chaired by Joo Byung-ki, also decided to file criminal complaints with the prosecution service against two of the corporations, Hansol Paper and Hankuk Paper, Inews24 reported.

Rotating winners across six tenders

Newdaily described the scheme as the producers setting an order of turns and sweeping the contracts between them. For each tender the designated winner was fixed beforehand, while the remaining participants submitted higher, non-competitive prices so that the process kept the appearance of a contest.

Hankook Ilbo reported that the practice ran for more than three years and was used to hold prices up rather than to compete on them. Because Nongmin Shinmun returns to the market repeatedly for the same grade of paper, each rigged award also set the reference point for the following round.

Average award rate of 96.2%

The clearest measure of the effect is the award rate, the winning bid expressed as a share of the buyer's estimated price. Intn reported an average award rate of 96.2% during the cartel period. Newspim put the average above 96% and more than 8 percentage points higher than before the collusion began, while Hankook Ilbo reported the increase at close to 9 percentage points.

• Cartel period: June 2021 to November 2024
• Tenders affected: six printing-paper purchases by Nongmin Shinmun
• Average award rate during the cartel: 96.2%
• Penalties: 3.009 billion won in fines plus corrective orders for all six firms
• Criminal referrals: Hansol Paper and Hankuk Paper

Six firms, 95% of the market

Newdaily reported that the six producers together account for about 95% of South Korea's printing-paper market. Three of the six carry the Moorim name, which narrows the field of genuinely independent bidders further still.

That concentration is what makes the case relevant beyond a single publisher. A buyer inviting bids for printing paper in South Korea is, in practice, inviting bids from a group that covers almost the entire domestic supply. Once those suppliers coordinate, the tender stops functioning as a price discovery mechanism and the difference goes straight onto the buyer's paper bill.

The second penalty in five months

The decision follows a far larger action. Five months earlier the same producers were fined 330 billion won over collusion on printing-paper prices, and the new penalty amounts to less than 1% of that sum. Edaily noted that the bid rigging came on top of the earlier price-fixing case rather than in place of it.

All six companies received corrective orders alongside the fines, barring repetition of the conduct. The criminal referral of Hansol Paper and Hankuk Paper as corporate entities moves the case beyond administrative enforcement, since prosecutors can pursue penalties that the commission itself cannot impose.