S. Korean fair trade group fines CRT glass producers 54.5 Bil. won

In a statement, the commission said the CRT glass makers colluded to fix prices and reduce output of CRT glass for almost eight years from March 1999 to January 2007.



South Korean manufacturers Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co. and Hankuk Electric Glass Co., along with Japan's Nippon Electric Glass Co. and its subsidiary Nippon Electric Glass (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., were found by the commission to have "seriously affected the (South) Korean market."



The commission said the producers "agreed on fixing prices and reducing output of CRT glass in the secret meetings which took place in various countries including (South) Korea, Japan and Singapore at least 35 times for almost eight years from March 1999 to January 2007."



In setting the surcharges, the commission said it took into account factors that included the affected sales of the companies involved, the nature of the infringement and the current status of the CRT glass industry.



The 54.5 billion won in surcharges are split among the four companies -- Samsung Corning Precision Materials 32.45 million won; Hankuk Electric Glass 18.32 million won; Nippon Electric Glass 3.71 million won and Nippon Electric Glass(Malaysia)37 million won.



Hankuk Electric Glass is a subsidiary of Asahi Glass Co. of Japan.



The commission said its decision Sunday was the result of a joint investigation with other fair trade authorities, including the European Commission.



(Mainichi Japan) December 12, 2011