Swedish ** was investigated by antitrust laws

Recently, the national anti-monopoly law enforcement has frequently investigated a number of milk powder brands. Milk and beverage packaging giant Sweden Tetra Pak has also been investigated.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce announced on July 5 that it had formally initiated the case of suspected abuse of market dominance by Tetra Pak. Currently, it has conducted investigations in more than 20 provinces and cities.

An individual who was unwilling to disclose the name of the dairy packaging industry said in an interview with the reporter of the “Daily Economic News” that the Tetra was investigated by the anti-monopoly, perhaps suspected of restricting competition in the industry.

"Tetra has a large number of patents, from filling technology to paper packaging materials. These patents may have some restrictions on the development of peers." The above-mentioned sources told reporters.

The reporter called Tetra on this matter, but because it was Sunday, the other party said it was not convenient for the interview. According to the "Beijing Times" report, the company responded that it fully cooperated with the investigation and there is no further information available to disclose.

Tetra Pak was anti-monopoly investigation When the government waved the anti-monopoly banner to the dairy industry, dairy packaging companies also became targets of anti-monopoly investigations.

On July 5, Zhang Mao, director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, disclosed at the meeting of industry and commerce administrators that the State Administration for Industry and Commerce had initiated the filing of an alleged abuse of market dominance by Tetra Pak. Currently, 20 industrial and commercial authorities of provinces and cities are organizing relevant investigations.

As the world's largest food packaging company, Tetra Pak's products can be seen everywhere. The dairy giant Yili, Mengniu's boxed and pillowed normal-temperature milk use Tetra Pak's packaging.

According to the official website of Tetra Pak, Tetra has 39 sales companies worldwide, 42 packaging materials and capping plants, and 8 assembly plants for filling and processing equipment. Last year, the company produced a total of 173.2 billion packs, providing 77.3 billion liters of liquid food products to consumers worldwide, and net sales of approximately 11.155 billion euros.

With such large sales, Tetra has also attracted criticism from the market. According to the "Beijing Times" report, as early as 2003, a large domestic packaging company had reported that Tetra Pak had abuse of monopoly and dominance in the Chinese market. The company said in an interview that year that when recommending its products to some dairy companies, many customers worried that if the company’s packaging were used, Tetra Pak would stop providing parts and services. The reporting company stated that food manufacturers must choose Tetra Pak's filling machine equipment to choose Tetra Pak packaging materials, and consumers buy a box of 2 yuan for 250 ml Tetra Pak milk, at least 0.45 yuan is used to purchase packaging. of.

However, at that time, the country’s “anti-monopoly law” had not yet been introduced, and this matter had not resulted. Today, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has for the first time officially disclosed an investigation into the suspected illegal behavior of Tetra Pak.

For this matter, Tetra China told the media that it had received the request from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to provide relevant information of Tetra Pak's business in China. Tetra Pak gave full support and no further information was available at the moment.

2.5 yuan milk 0.22 yuan for packaging?

Song Liang, a senior analyst at the Center for the Promotion of Circulation Productivity in China, said that 10 years ago, Tetra Pak and Mengniu, Yili and other companies began to cooperate and developed along with the development of the Chinese dairy industry.

“Tetrah met the development of Yili and Mengniu in China that year. At that time, the two companies had developed rapidly and needed a lot of qualified packaging. At that time, only Tetra Pak was able to provide such qualified packaging.” Song Liang said.

An insider of a dairy company who did not want to be named told the reporter that the market share of the room temperature milk products of the Tetra Pak pillows is very high, and more than 90% of products that are normally made at room temperature are Tetra Pak.

The dairy expert Wang Dingmian said that Tetra Pak has been monopolized in the packaging of room temperature milk in China. In 2005, Tetra Pak's share of packaging in China was already over 80%.

Tetra Pak's wrapping paper costs more than other paper. Zhuo Chuang, an analyst in the information packaging paper industry, said that this type of paper is special and belongs to special paper. "This kind of paper is coated, so the quality of the paper's fibers is higher. And, the process of Tetra Pak is very complicated."

Wang Dingmian told the reporter of the “Daily Economic News” that according to the 250ml normal-temperature milk tea pillow package, there is about 0.22 yuan worth of wrapping paper money in the price of 2.5 yuan. When the paper price rises, this figure can reach 0.28 yuan.

Allegedly suspected of restricting industry competition For the anti-monopoly investigation, the expert member of the China Dairy Products Association, Chen Yu, said that Lele was subject to the “Abuse of Market Status” survey, mainly related to “bundle sales” of sterile paper.

Wang Dingmian introduced that, a few years ago, Tetra Pak had a code between the wrapping paper and the machine, which could not be used by other papers, affecting other manufacturers entering the packaging paper field.

Chen Yu said that since 2003, the packaging paper industry has had a voice against Tetro’s abuse of market dominance. Dairy products and beverage manufacturers are not shy to speak out in response to various concerns. More importantly, they cannot rely on it until In August 2007, the "Anti-Monopoly Law" was promulgated.

However, according to Wang Dingmian, the Tetra Pak production line can now be produced with other wrapping papers, and the SAIC may have another reason for antitrust investigation.

Wang Dingmian said that the whole domestic normal temperature milk packaging market is now about 110 billion bags/year. Among them, Tetra Pak accounted for 60 billion packs, German company Kangmei accounted for 10 billion packs, and domestic companies accounted for a total of 40 billion packs. “The domestic normal-temperature milk packaging companies now have a total of 26 or so; among them, Shandong Tranlin accounts for 6 billion. 7 billion bags are the first among domestic enterprises."

According to a person in the dairy packaging industry who is unwilling to be named, today's Tetra has limited the development of the industry. “The current SAIC investigation may be due to Tetra Pak restricting competition among companies.”

“In fact, Tetra was fined by the European Union for restricting competition. Tetra Pak has a lot of patents, ranging from filling technology to paper packaging materials. It is not easy to enter this industry. This Tetra Pak was investigated, I think It may be because Tetra Pak restricts competition. As a packaging oligarch, Tetra Pak wants to enjoy the market alone. But now the aseptic packaging industry in China has also developed, and the government needs to give space to other companies," the source said.