Three baby formula makers have released details of their price cuts after the Chinese government started an anti-trust and price-fixing investigation.
Dumex Baby Food, a unit of French food group Danone, said in an e-mail statement yesterday that it will trim retail sale prices by 5-20 percent for its main products today.
Dumex added that the price cut will cover the full range of its products in China and it will maintain the lower prices over the next year.
The price cut came after Wyeth Nutrition's announcement last week to slash prices of its key products by an average of 11 percent, with the biggest price cut of 20 percent.
The anti-monopoly division at the National Development and Reform Commission last week "took notice" of initiatives taken by foreign baby formula manufacturers to cut prices.
Meanwhile, domestic milk powder maker Zhejiang Beingmate Technology Industry and Trade Co said in a stock exchange filing yesterday that it will cut the wholesale price for key products by 5-20 percent from tomorrow.
FrieslandCampina Trading (Shanghai) Co also said in a statement over the weekend that it would cut the price of its products by 5 percent from yesterday.
China launched the investigation as part of efforts to revitalize and consolidate the milk formula industry after a series of food safety scandals, especially the melamine-tainted milk outrage which broke out in 2008, hurt the industry's reputation and dented consumer confidence.
At an industry forum in late June, Gao Fu, an inspector at the consumer goods division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said China aims to create 10 large companies in the industry within two years, with each having an annual revenue of above 2 billion yuan (US$326 million).
China Securities Co researcher Huang Fusheng said in a report that even as domestic and overseas baby formula makers reduce prices, they will still benefit from the booming milk powder market.
Relatives of Chinese victims in Asiana jet crash head for U.S.
Feedback
RSS
