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DOJ to block sugar industry sale to prevent increase in price

The Department of Justice wants to prevent a pair of major U.S. sugar companies from merging to stop potential price hikes for consumers.

The DOJ on Tuesday brought the case in the U.S. District Court for Delaware against United States Sugar Corporation, who is attempting to acquire Imperial Sugar Co.

The agency says the merger would leave most refined sugar sales in the Southeast in the hands of two companies and it would eliminate competition, lower prices, better quality and more reliable service. The DOJ says the deal would also worsen global supply chain issues.

They are two of the three largest sugar companies supplying a region of the country from Mississippi to Delaware.

If the sale went through, the DOJ says consumers in that region would be “at the mercy of a cozy duopoly.”