Price Fixing Makes It Hard To Control Prices Says Fuziah

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Fuziah Salleh monitoring the implementation of the 2023 Christmas season maximum price scheme at a supermarket in Kuantan today. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: The action by five chicken feed manufacturers in forming a price-fixing cartel for poultry feed is the highest level of betrayal against the country and competition laws, says deputy domestic trade and cost of living minister Fuziah Salleh.
She said the cartel’s action had made it difficult to control the price of chicken and the government was forced to provide a large subsidy at the production level.
“It is difficult for the chicken rearers to get a cheaper price for poultry feed because these five companies are involved in 40% of the chicken feed production,” Bernama reported her as saying in Kuantan.
“The government paid subsidies amounting to RM3.8 billion to cover the cost of chicken and eggs from February 2022 till last November.
“About 72.8% of the cost of chicken production goes to buying poultry feed.
“When there is a cartel that controls the price of chicken feed, it is difficult for the government to control the price of chicken at the set rate of RM9.40 per kg.”
Fuziah spoke to reporters after visiting a supermarket here to monitor the implementation of the 2023 Christmas season maximum price scheme today.
She said the government is committed to stopping the “cartel” practice and had allocated RM10 million to the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC) in the 2024 budget.
Yesterday, the media reported that five companies – Leong Hup Feedmill Malaysia Sdn Bhd, FFM Bhd, Gold Coin Feedmills (M) Sdn Bhd, Dindings Poultry Development Centre Sdn Bhd, and PK Agro-Industrial Products (M) Sdn Bhd – were fined a total of RM415 million for the “formation of a price-fixing cartel for poultry feed”.
MyCC said an investigation was carried out between November 2021 and June 2022 following suspicion that the five companies had engaged in price-fixing agreements.
They discovered distortion in the poultry feed market, with evidence of an “identical increment” in the increase of poultry feed prices among the companies between January 2020 and June 2022.
Regarding the festive price control scheme, Fuziah said most of the complaints received were during the Chinese New Year celebration, with 116 cases, followed by Aidilfitri (60 cases), Gawai festival (18 cases), Deepavali (five cases ) and one case during the Kaamatan festival.
The most common complaint was over the failure of traders to display the pink price tags on controlled price items, she added. - FMT

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