SEOUL, Dec. 15, 2025 — South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has fined eight suppliers of water treatment chemicals a combined 43.58 billion won (about $33 million) for rigging bids in public procurement tenders for organic coagulants used in water purification, the authority said on Monday.
The KFTC found that the companies colluded in tenders issued by local governments and public water management contractors between May 2017 and March 2023, pre-arranging winning bidders and bid prices to secure contracts at inflated levels.
Organic coagulants are polymer-based chemicals used in water treatment processes to bind and remove fine particles from raw water. The authority said collusion occurred across both powdered and liquid product segments, undermining competition in publicly funded procurement markets.
According to the KFTC, two major suppliers — SNF Korea and Kolon Life Science — dominated the powdered organic coagulant market and reached a basic agreement to respect each other’s customer allocations. They then coordinated bid winners, “cover bids,” and pricing in hundreds of tenders nationwide. Between October 2018 and September 2022, the two firms won the vast majority of 225 tenders affected by the scheme.
The investigation also uncovered additional collusion involving liquid organic coagulants, where competition from smaller suppliers was stronger. In several separate arrangements, groups of companies coordinated bid outcomes to avoid price competition, resulting in collusion in nearly 300 tenders overall, with pre-agreed winners securing contracts in 273 cases.
The largest fines were imposed on SNF Korea (21.86 billion won) and Kolon Life Science (18.22 billion won). Smaller penalties were levied against other participants, including MiJu EnviChem, SY Chem, Hansol Chemical, Ecolab Korea, Hwaseong Industrial, and Giryung Industry. The KFTC also decided to refer one company to prosecutors for criminal investigation.
