공정위, ‘석유화학 사업재편’ 대산 1호 기업결합 조건부 승인

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) recently approved, conditionally, the corporate merger of the 'Dongsaeng 1st Project' under the 'Dongsaeng' plan in the oil and chemical industry. As part of the approval, a series of corrective measures were imposed, including limiting price increases and decreases to levels corresponding to export price fluctuation rates over a five-year period.

The FTC reviewed the merger proposal submitted by the Fair Trade Commission and determined that it would result in a reduced number of competitors in the domestic markets for polystyrene (LDPE) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA). Specifically, the merger between Lotte Chemical and Dongsaeng Chemical would lead to a decrease in the number of competitors in these markets from four to three, intensifying the market structure and potentially limiting competition.

Consequently, the FTC imposed corrective measures to ensure that domestic prices would not exceed the export price increase rate or fall below the export price decrease rate during the following five years. Additionally, the FTC prohibited the sharing of sensitive information such as prices, quantities, costs, and inventory levels among the companies involved, as well as price-fixing and other anti-competitive practices.