01 point of view
Written by: Review Editor
2020-05-22 17:15
Date of last update: 2020-05-22 17:16The Consumer Council on Thursday (21st) published the "Monitoring Analysis of Automobile Fuel Price in 2020" and found that the price of local oil companies in Hong Kong has been "increasing and decreasing" in the past seven years, and hopes that the authorities can empower the Competition Commission to investigate the pricing of the fuel market. arrangement. International oil prices have fallen sharply in recent months, but the prices of Hong Kong oil companies have not fallen but have risen. It is really unreasonable and reasonable. Therefore, the Hong Kong Government has a responsibility to strengthen market supervision and regulation and give consumers justice.
Under the impact of new crown pneumonia, Saudi Arabia and Russia's production capacity, New York oil futures fell to a record low of minus 40 US dollars per barrel in April, but when investors sold oil at a loss, the retail price of auto fuel in Hong Kong did not fall back . According to the report of the Consumer Council, after the peak of Brent crude oil prices peaked in 2013, although there has been a slight rebound, it has generally been on a downward trend in the past seven years.
Add more to reduce the phenomenon
However, the price of motor fuel in Hong Kong has not followed the trend of international oil prices. The report pointed out that from 2013 to the first quarter of 2020, the price and import price of Brent crude oil per liter, although the cumulative changes fell by $ 4.3 and $ 3.68 respectively, but the cumulative changes in the price of Hong Kong oil companies during the same period, not only did not see a decline, but more $ 0.1 increase. What's more, if we compare the price of these seven years with the increase or decrease of the import price, the price per liter will "decrease" by $ 0.68 when the price is reduced, and "add more" by $ 3.09 when the price is increased, so the retail price of auto fuel in Hong Kong is high It is not unreasonable to be at the forefront of the world.
However, the Consumer Council called this sign "additional reduction" rather than "accelerating the slowdown." The former refers to the magnitude of price changes, while the latter refers to price changes. Due to the change in the price of Brent crude oil and the subsequent change in the average price of local oil companies, there is a significant relationship between the two, that is, the time gap between the two is roughly the same, so the Consumer Council believes that the signs of "accelerating the slowdown" are not presence. But at the same time, the price adjustment behavior of the five oil companies in the past seven years has been very similar, that is, they usually adjust prices within a few days to keep up with their peers. For example, after three oil companies reduced their price from $ 17.59 to $ 17.34 in the first quarter of this year, the other two oil companies, although they did not immediately follow, fell to the same level within two days.
Evidence of agreement
This phenomenon of auto fuel in Hong Kong is actually related to the industry structure and competition. Looking at the whole world, due to the high input cost of fuel supply, the fuel market is usually concentrated in only a few companies, or even state-owned companies. This disguise makes the threshold for others to enter the market and expand business very high. Under the protection of these natural barriers, it will become an oligopoly controlled by several companies over time. However, as the Consumer Council said, even if the prices of fuel retailers are the same, the pace of change is also consistent, but this pricing behavior does not necessarily constitute "collusive pricing". The authorities will ultimately look at the evidence of the agreement between competitors before they can Proof of anti-competitive behavior.
In order to relieve the public's doubts about industry pricing for many years, it is necessary for the authorities to increase the transparency of pricing by oil companies and restore the functions that the competition committee should have. In order to improve market competition, the Commission has already proposed many feasible solutions as early as 2017, including re-introducing cheaper 95-octane gasoline, expanding more gas station sites, lowering the threshold for entering the market and expanding business, and reviewing The bidding system for the use of oil station land, etc., in order to enhance market competition. However, to understand whether there is any anti-competitive behavior in the automotive fuel market, the Hong Kong government must eventually allow the competition committee to be empowered to monitor market competition, check the fuel market pricing arrangements, and return the truth to consumers. Reasonable choice.
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