http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201802240011.aspx
Taiwan's govt to act if collusion proven in toilet paper price hikes
2018/02/24 15:38:48
Taipei, Feb. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's cabinet, the Executive Yuan, has vowed to act if it finds local toilet paper vendors have colluded to raise prices without good reason.
In a statement released on Friday, the Executive Yuan said the government's price stabilization task force under the Cabinet has asked the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and the Consumer Protection Committee to look into an announcement made by toilet paper brands earlier in the day that they intend to raise prices.
Retailers in Taiwan, including large-sized hypermarket operators, said they have been informed by toilet paper suppliers that product prices will rise by 10-30 percent, starting from mid-March at the earliest due to a spike in pulp prices in the international market.
After the price adjustments, consumers are expected to have to pay NT$260 (US$8.87) for every 12 pack of inter-fold toilet paper or tissue in one package, up from the current NT$200.
In Taiwan, toilet paper come in packs, not rolls, and are also used as tissue.
The product price hike announcement has triggered an outcry among many local consumers.
Local TV showed consumers scrambling to buy toilet paper before the prices increase, with some loading bags of the product in their shopping cart.
The FTC said it will take a close look at whether these toilet paper suppliers have been involved in a price collusion, which could undermine market order. If so, the commission will take any necessary action to maintain market order and protect consumers' interests, it said.
The FTC said that based on the local fair trade act, violators are expected to face punishment.
For its part, the MOEA said some tissue paper vendors raised their product prices by 5-8 percent last year in reflection of more expensive pulp prices and other brands announced they would follow suit this year.
To its knowledge, the MOEA said short fiber pulp used for production of tissue paper rose to US$800 per ton on average as of February from US$650 seen a year earlier due to an imbalance in supply and demand.
The MOEA said it will continue to monitor pulp price fluctuations in the global market as well as tissue paper prices in the domestic market and keep discussing with makers in a bid to lower the financial burden shouldered by consumers.
YFY Inc., one of the largest tissue paper suppliers in Taiwan, said prices of pulp which accounts for a majority of production costs, have risen by more than 50 percent since mid-2017, and keep rising. Even worse is that transportation and packaging costs have also been increasing, so it has no choice but to raise product prices, the company said.
It insisted its decision was based on the market situation. In response to the planned price hike, some distributors said they will provide discounts on tissue paper purchases in a bid to assuage the impact on consumers.
(By Elaine Hou, Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang)
Enditem/cs
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2018/02/24/2003688149
FTC to probe tissue paper price increases
INVESTIGATION:The commission said it is to look into an alleged collective price increase, while retailers have said they have received notices that prices will go up
By Liao Chien-ying / Staff reporter
Shoppers purchase tissue paper at a wholesale store in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday said it is launching an investigation following media reports that tissue paper companies have reached an agreement to collectively introduce a price increase of between 10 and 30 percent next month.
According to local media reports, tissue paper companies have reportedly put a price increase on hold since 2016 when the cost of international pulp began to increase, but the cost has shot up by more than 40 percent over the past year.
Major retailers yesterday said they have been receiving notices from tissue paper companies about a planned price increase.
Hypermarket chain RT-Mart said the price increase would be reflected at all of its stores, with prices expected to increase by between 10 and 30 percent.
The price increase would “definitely” be carried out before April, RT-Mart said.
Hypermarket chain A-Mart said the price increase would be between 10 and 20 percent, and would begin in the middle of next month at the earliest.
In response, FTC Deputy Chairman Perng Shaw-jiin (彭紹瑾) said the commission would pay close attention to the alleged collective price increase.
The FTC is launching an investigation that covers not just a concerted act of price increases, but also whether distribution channels conspired with the tissue paper companies to launch a price increase, Perng said, adding that the companies would be asked to explain the reason behind the increases.
Firms found to have acted in concert to increase prices would be fined between NT$100,000 and NT$50 million (US$3,412 and US$1.71 million) under the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), Perng said.
The fines could be doubled if the companies do not desist within a set period of time and they can repeated, he added.
This story has been viewed 1336 times.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2018/02/26/2003688294
Agency reassures toilet paper buyers, amid price doubts
By Chen Yi-jia / Staff reporter
All four major supermarket chains in the nation have promised not to raise the retail price of toilet paper before the middle of next month or hoard the merchandise so that they could sell it later at higher prices, the Department of Consumer Protection of the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
Consumers flocked to supermarkets over the weekend to buy toilet paper as its retail price is set to rise next month. The agency offered the assurance amid multiple media reports that many supermarkets were reported to be out of toilet paper due to the rising demand.
Carrefour, RT-Mart, A-Mart Taiwan and Pxmart have said they are prepared to sell toilet paper year-round, agency Deputy Director-General Wu Cheng-hsueh (吳政學) said, adding that they have already stipulated their sales plans.
The chains’ plans include the brands and quantities of toilet paper that would be sold, as well as the sales prices and dates.
They would not seize the opportunity to raise the retail price for toilet paper, Wu said.
Wu said he was surprised to hear that supermarkets’ stocks of toilet paper had been depleted.
Consumers should not worry about being unable to buy toilet paper temporarily, he said, adding that the problem would be resolved once the supermarket chains refill their stock today.
Supermarket chains and toilet paper suppliers have signed price contracts, Wu said, adding that the chains are unlikely to make any adjustments in the short term.
Regarding the price of toilet paper after next month, Wu said that the retailers would adjust prices based on their contracts with suppliers of different brands.
Supermarket chains would not raise the prices of all brands at the same time, he said, adding that the agency would closely monitor prices to see if retailers engage in improper sales during this time.
This story has been viewed 60 times.
ABC Home
