South Korea: local producers to face price probe?

South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated another investigation into whether domestic cement producers colluded to raise cement prices.

According to industry sources and the FTC Friday, the antitrust watchdog conducted an onsite probe into major cement makers including Tongyang Cement & Energy and Hanil Cement in mid-July, the Maeil Business Newspaper reports.. Upon the request from the ready-mixed concrete industry, the regulator kicked off investigation into cement makers' alleged price-rigging in April 2013, but it has yet to reach a conclusion.

The latest on-site probe was meant to obtain further evidence on suspicions of the price-fixing, indicating that the watchdog could be about to make its conclusion on the case.

So far, no judicial precedent has been made as to whether an acquirer is responsible for the fine levied on an acquired for the matters that occurred before the acquisition.