CPC adopted a Sector inquiry of the competitive environment on the markets of production and trade of sunflower oil and wheat flour in the Republic of Bulgaria
By Decision № 427/18.04.2024, ruled on case № KZK-220/2022, CPC adopted a Sector inquiry of the competitive environment on the markets of production and trade of sunflower oil and wheat flour in the Republic of Bulgaria.
The Commission has investigated market conditions of the markets for the production and trade of sunflower oil and wheat flour on the territory of the country and the vertically related upstream markets for the production and sale of soft wheat and oilseed sunflower, as well as the grain storage market.
The analysis focuses on the dynamics of the average purchase prices of wheat and sunflower in the country, as well as on the international quotations of the specified raw materials, following the extent to which their volatility affects the prices at which participants in the specified markets purchase the raw material for their production needs.
Based on the competitive legal analysis, it was established that the observed price trends in the country during the considered period are caused by objective economic factors, and the international situation. The CPC did not find indications for market distortions caused by market participants by recourse to anticompetitive practices. Such practices would have led to a genuine violation of competition in the interrelated markets and to unjustified increase of wheat flour and sunflower oil prices.
Notwithstanding the above conclusion, during the investigation some problems in the sector were detected and evaluated as potential impediments to the effective competitive process in the vertically related markets.
In this regard, the Commission for the Protection of Competition, within its legal powers, issues recommendations to the competent authorities, aimed at improving the competitive environment in the analyzed markets.
The full text of the decision is available in the public electronic register of CPC at the following internet address: https://reg.cpc.bg/Decision.aspx?DecID=300067671