In the Chinese detergent market, the four giants of P&G, Unilever, Liby, and Nass have almost occupied more than 80% of the country's market share. The commentator said that if the “pre-announcement of price increase” is a planned behavior of the organization, it not only violates the laws of market economy, it is also suspected of constituting a price monopoly. Media reports recently stated that daily production of Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nass, Libye, etc. Most brands of supplies manufacturers will raise their prices by 5%-15%. With the high prices, the money that people spend on daily consumer goods has also increased. With inflation pressure still rising, consumers are already highly sensitive to the prices of daily necessities.

It is reported that currently in the detergent market in China, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Li Bai and Nai Sisi four major Japanese chemical giants, accounting for almost 80% of the country's market share. Assuming that the four major Japanese chemical giants have already formed a monopoly on China’s daily chemical market?

Consumers believe that the increase in cost has become the reason for the high price of goods. Manufacturers only say that because of rising costs, commodity prices have risen, but they have always evaded how much the cost is, what costs have risen, and how much it has gone up. Taking daily chemical products as an example, so-called raw material costs have risen. I am afraid that people in the industry are not necessarily clear. Japanese companies are completely self-talking and lack basic credibility. Enterprises cannot use this to stifle consumers.

According to commentators, if costs do increase, there is nothing wrong with the increase in prices of companies, and it is inevitable. However, if there is an organized and planned alliance and linkage of large economies to achieve price increases and “hold” the market, it is not only against the market economy. Laws are also suspected of being illegal.

Whether or not it is suspected of price monopoly In early March, Spain imposed fines of 50 million euros (about 69.8 million U.S. dollars) on cosmetics manufacturers such as L'Oreal in France and P&G in the US on the basis of price manipulation. According to a survey conducted by the committee, the above-mentioned enterprises formed alliances to manipulate prices within 20 years, hindering European market competition and harming the interests of consumers. As early as 2008, nine European, American, and Japanese product manufacturers, including Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate, were investigated for allegedly conspiracy to manipulate prices in the French market. According to reports, these companies are suspected of sharing market share from the end of 2004.

Business information on prices and distributors, etc., and reached extensive agreement on the prices of these products in France.

Adam Smith, the father of economics, once said a word: People in the same industry are rarely brought together even for entertainment or entertainment, but the result of their conversation is often not to deal with the public is to plan to raise prices. Consumers have thus questioned: “In recent days, the rivals such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble have shown great harmony in this price increase. In the past three years, the prices of daily chemical products have risen to the largest extent, and the four major Japanese manufacturers have kept pace. Choosing to raise prices in April or so does not make consumers feel skeptical."

Industry sources said that if it is indeed due to raw material price increases caused by commodity prices, which is understandable, and allowed, but "price increase does not allow collusion", if the survey found that industry manufacturers manufacturing price expectations, joint prices or spread The false price adjustment information disturbs the market order and must be punished.

Li Xuewu, deputy head of the Shanghai Municipal Price Inspection Institute, told the media that the Shanghai price department has noticed the “price increase” of the four major daily chemical brands and has reported to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Li Xuewu said that the four brands "linked price" is suspected of violating the "anti-monopoly law." Once the National Development and Reform Commission organizes the provincial and municipal price departments to conduct an anti-monopoly investigation on the matter, Shanghai will investigate the four brands of multinational companies headquartered in Shanghai. However, he said that multinational corporations usually have rich antitrust investigation experience, so it is difficult for the price department to collect evidence.

Cost rises into price increase reasons According to domestic media reports, the commodity prices of several large-scale production companies have risen, and the increase in raw material costs is the main reason.

Vice President of Unilever China Zeng Xiwen recently told the media that most of the raw materials used in the daily chemical industry are by-products of petroleum. At present, the international oil price has risen from 50 US dollars last year to the current 100 US dollars. Surfactants commonly used in detergents Prices have gone up by 60%, plastic packaging has also risen by 60%, and vegetable oil prices for soap and other products have risen by more than 50%. The rise in oil prices has also greatly increased transportation costs. In addition, foreign-funded enterprises have to enjoy national treatment this year, and tax revenue has increased. Taking shampoo as an example, it has increased the tax rate by about 1.2%.

Zeng Xiwen said: “The daily chemical industry is a completely free-competing market. If we increase prices, our competitors have not followed up. It is definitely ours. That’s why our average increase has not exceeded 10%. And the future We do not rule out that the cost will continue to rise and continue to increase prices. We are not the first to rise, nor will it be the last one to rise."

The concentration of Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Libya, and Nasez daily production companies has caused consumers many questions. They believe that the production companies have always emphasized that raw materials have increased by a factor of 10, but they have been avoiding how much raw materials are originally. How much is it now? Consumers do not know the cost of raw materials before the price increase. Regardless of how much money the manufacturing company says is up, consumers can only accept and pick up the goods. The regulatory authorities should exercise their supervision power to investigate whether the prices of daily chemical production companies are not up.

Industry insiders told reporters that there are factors such as rising prices of upstream raw materials and rising labor costs behind the prices of daily chemical production companies. However, for such pressures, companies can fully resolve through internal potential tapping. There are many types of daily chemical companies. Ways to resolve price increases, one of the most useful ways is to launch new products.

It has become one of the most sensitive topics for the people today that the prices of Western goods have risen before they hit the market. The effect of advertisements and trials brought about by the company’s “announcement of price increase ahead of schedule” has already dawned. The sales of daily chemicals and detergents in some cities are quietly rising. Major supermarkets have seen varying degrees of consumer behavior.

The major supermarket reporters saw that many shampoos and detergents have different promotional activities. Lux shampoo buy 1 get 2 (that is, buy a 400 ml shampoo gift 2 50 ml conditioner), Watsons Pantene shampoo 750 ml 52.9 yuan, plus 1 yuan to send 200 ml conditioner and other promotions.

Under the pressure of high costs, why are these daily production companies dared to carry out promotional activities so vigorously? Is this a test of the market with this news, or is it planning this increase to increase short-term sales and profit?

A department manager of a public relations company told this reporter that in early 2008, under the background of price hikes of some raw materials, prices of some foreign brands of milk powder rose, and the price increase ranged from 5% to 30%. Before the official price increase, some Businesses announced milk price increases in advance, resulting in some supermarkets appear to consumers buy "foreign milk powder" phenomenon, after the media reports, some consumers will naturally agree with the price increase. In the end, these brands really increased their prices. "After many such incidents, we discovered that this is a method of market trials. Some manufacturers, first spread the news of price increases, and then expand the impact through some reports. Finally, investigate the acceptance of some consumers, if consumers accept , then raise the price quickly; if you do not accept it, then you can refute it."

Spreading prices in advance affected the normal market order and pricing mechanism and harmed the interests of consumers. Analysts pointed out that under the strict control of the general price level, the relevant government departments should pay close attention to the phenomenon of monopoly oligopoly “early announcement of price increases”, and early intervention should be conducted in addition to the regulation of the reasonableness of price increases and gains. To investigate whether it is suspected of advertising, temptation, etc., and to punish unlawful acts.

It is the responsibility of the government to ensure market supply and stabilize market prices. Current laws and regulations also provide the government with the functions and means of price supervision. Qiu Baochang, head of the China Consumers’ Lawyers’ League, pointed out that Article 14 of the “Price Law” mentions that operators must not have eight kinds of unfair price behaviors, including “fabrication and dissemination of price information, drive up prices, and promote commodities. The price is too high."

Industry experts believe that the behavior of these daily chemical companies has been suspected of constituting a price monopoly. If companies collude in price increases and the total market share accounts for more than 1/2, there is a suspicion of price monopoly. Businesses have freedom of pricing, but they cannot abuse it. In particular, the abuse of pricing freedom due to the monopoly of the market not only harms the interests of consumers, but also harms the interests of SMEs. If alleged price monopoly, even if the price is announced in advance, it cannot legalize its behavior.

A few days ago, the relevant person in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission told the media that the NDRC was highly concerned about this matter and had already interviewed related companies to understand the situation. It also clearly stated that all types of enterprises must strengthen social responsibility and should not be free to ride up prices, but not allow collusion. Price, raise prices.

The National Development and Reform Commission stated that detergents and instant noodles are all necessities of life for the masses, and that changes in their prices directly affect people's lives. These price increases were widely disseminated on the Internet and exacerbated the public's concern about higher prices in the later period. The National Development and Reform Commission stated that it will send an investigation team to the relevant companies for investigation.

According to another report, under the pressure of the NDRC’s intervention and strong pressure, some supermarkets that originally planned to raise prices for daily products such as detergents and shampoos on April 1 also decided to suspend prices.