The
lysine price-fixing conspiracy was an organized effort during the mid-1990s to raise the price of the animal feed additive
lysine. It involved five companies that had commercialized high-tech fermentation technologies, including American company
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Japanese companies
Ajinomoto and
Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, and Korean companies Sewon America Inc. and Cheil Jedang Ltd. A criminal investigation resulted in fines and three-year prison sentences for three executives of ADM who
colluded with the other companies to
fix prices. The foreign companies settled with the
United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in September through December 1996. Each firm and four executives from the Asian firms pled guilty as part of a
plea bargain to aid in further investigation against ADM. The
cartel had been able to raise lysine prices 70% within their first nine months of cooperation.