Diamond Egg, CP Bangladesh fined Tk3.5cr for egg price manipulation

The Bangladesh Competition Commission (BCC) has fined Diamond Egg Ltd and CP Bangladesh a total of Tk3.5 crore after allegations against the two leading poultry firms of abnormally raising the price of eggs through mutual collusion were proven.

Diamond Egg Limited was fined Tk2.5 crore, and CP Bangladesh Company Limited was fined Tk1 crore, as per the verdict given by the commission on Wednesday (January 24).

In 2022, the egg and chicken market became unstable suddenly, with the price of each dozen eggs soaring to Tk55-Tk58. The unstable situation persisted for about 15 days. Allegations arose that 10-12 corporate organisations colluded, creating this instability and making extra profits by increasing the prices.

Not only eggs, but also capitalising on the Russia-Ukraine war, the prices of chicken, soap, detergent, rice, and flour witnessed an abnormal surge.

At that time, the Bangladesh Competition Commission spontaneously filed 44 cases against big corporate companies producing and marketing the aforementioned goods, including eggs. Six of the accused companies were involved in egg trading. After a lengthy hearing and investigation, the commission announced the judgment of the case against two egg producers today.

According to the judgment order, the accused companies – CP Bangladesh and Diamond Egg – in collusion with other similar companies indirectly increased the sale price of their produced eggs abnormally.

"Likewise, the firms regulated the supply and market system of their produced eggs, which is a punishable offense under the Competition Act. Due to this, disciplinary action has been taken against these two firms under Section 15 of the act," stated the verdict.

However, the two companies can apply for a review or appeal regarding this judgment.

"We have not received the copy of the judgment yet. We will analyse it and decide whether to appeal once we get the copy in hand," said Md Kaiser Ahmed, Managing Director at Diamond Egg, to The Business Standard.

The General Manager (GM) of CP Bangladesh Company Ltd, Dr Md Akram Hossen, said, "We will decide the next step after analysing the verdict through our lawyers."

Earlier, in October last year, the BCC had fined two companies, Kazi Farms, and Suguna Foods about Tk8.5 crore in a case related to the abnormal increase in the price of broiler chicken.