Six petrochemical companies indicted for price-fixing

Six petrochemical companies and over 40 executives have been indicted for allegedly fixing prices on essential products worth 16.39 trillion won, according to prosecutors in Seoul. The indicted entities include LG Chem, Aekyung Chemical, OCI, Lotte Fine Chemical, PKC, and Unid. The companies are accused of colluding for several years to raise prices on eight petrochemical products, such as PVC, plasticizers, caustic soda, and hydrochloric acid.

Prosecutors specifically named OCI Vice Chairman and CEO Kim Yu-shin and former PKC CEO Jang Young-soo, as well as a former PKC sales division head and a former LG Chem business division head, in the price-fixing charges. The suspects are alleged to have engaged in price-fixing for the eight products between November 2021 and April of this year, despite the government providing 146.5 billion won to support petrochemical production amid rising international oil prices due to the Middle East conflict.