Pilkington unsuccessful in overturning fine
Flat glass manufacturer Pilkington has lost its challenge to a €357 million cartel fine after a top EU court said regulators had come up with the correct sanction. Pilkington, Saint-Gobain, and two other companies were hit with a €1.35 billion fine by the European Commission in 2008 for fixing prices and sharing markets over a five-year period starting in 1998.
ArcelorMittal making moves ahead of production shift to Alabama
ArcelorMittal idled the No. 2 galvanizing line at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor West in December, and United Steelworkers Local 1011 notified workers that the company tentatively plans to idle No. 1 aluminizing line at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor West, formerly the LTV steel mill, in December 2015 in anticipation of shifting the production to the company’s new AM/NS Calvert plant in Alabama. The steel giant also told employees it planned to close the electric arc furnace at Indiana Long Carbon Plant No. 4 in March, and buy foreign steel from sister plants instead. ArcelorMittal facilities in Canada and Germany produced billets used for construction projects for $150 to $200 less per unit.
Silka sues to push through Saint-Gobain takeover
The family that owns a controlling stake in Swiss chemicals firm Sika has filed a lawsuit to help push through a $2.73 billion takeover by French building materials company Saint-Gobain. Sika’s majority owner, the Burkard-Schenker family, has been at loggerheads with the Swiss firm’s management since early last month, when top executives and several board members not affiliated with the family said they would quit if the planned sale goes through.