Ice makers at Yanpu Fishing Port

Case:

Key Words:

ice for fishing boats, ice making

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of October 31, 2012 (the 1095th Commissioners' Meeting), Disposition Kung Ch'u Tzu 101166

Industry:

Frozen Fish, Crustaceans and Mollusks Manufacturing (0821)

Relevant Laws:

Article 14 of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The FTC received an email complaining about the makers of ice for fishing boats in the neighborhood of Donggang Fishing Port in Pingtung County jointly increasing the price from NT$100 to 150 per chunk in August 2011. It was estimated that the cost for each fishing boat had been pushed up by NT$1,000 under the presumption that 20 chunks of ice for one boat are needed each time. The FTC therefore initiated an ex officio investigation.
2. Findings of the FTC after investigation:
   (1) Zhen Shun (transliteration) Ice Manufacturing Co., Ltd. first invited the ice makers in the Donggang area to meet at Fuwan Zhuangyuan to discuss price increase. The participants included Zhen Shun, Mi Jiu Enterprise Co., Ltd., Yong Quan Enterprise Co., Ltd., Sheng Xing Ice Manufacturer, and Dong Gang Ice Maker.
   (2) At the meeting, the said ice makers reached the conclusion that the price of ice would be raised to NT$150 per chunk, starting on August 1, 2011.
   (3) After the meeting, except for Dong Gang Ice Maker, every one of the four other companies put up outside its factory signs saying "Announcement: Due to cost increase, the price of ice will be raised to NT$150 per chunk, starting today. We apologize for any inconvenience thereof incurred. XXX (name of business)"
   (4) The FTC made inquiries and a sign maker confirmed that the advertising signs had all been made in the same format and the number of signs produced was consistent with the number of signs hung up outside the four ice makers.
3. Grounds for disposition:
   The product market involved in this case was the market of ice for fishing boats. As ice melts quickly and is difficult to preserve, sales of ice has a regional limitation. Therefore, the geographic market in this case was defined as Yanpu Fishing Port in Donggang, Pingtung County and the subjects of the concerted action were Zhen Shun, Mi Jiu, Yong Quan and Sheng Xing who attended the meeting held at Fuwan Zhuangyuan and established the mutual understanding to jointly raise the price of ice to NT$150 per chunk, starting from August 1, 2011. The joint price increase for ice for fishing boats in the area at issue was able to affect the supply-demand function of the fishing boat ice market at Yanpu Fishing Port in Donggang, Pingtung County. The conduct was in violation of the regulation against concerted actions set forth in Article 14 (1) of the Fair Trade Law. The FTC therefore imposed an administrative fine of NT$50,000 on each of the ice makers.

Summarized by: Huang, Chia-Chi ; Supervised by: Yang, Chia-Hui