Pilkington Glass will not appeal against a GBP 104 million fine from the European Commission for price fixing. The St Helens-based company, part of Japan“s Nippon Sheet Glass group, was fined EUR 140…
Pilkington Glass will not appeal against a GBP 104 million fine from the European Commission for price fixing. The St Helens-based company, part of Japan“s Nippon Sheet Glass group, was fined EUR 140 million (GBP 104 million) in November 2007 for its involvement in a “price-fixing cartel”. Nippon Sheet Glass can appeal to the European Court of Justice, but has decided not to. Pilkington is waiting to hear whether it will face any more fines as a Commission investigation continues into alleged price fixing among autoglass manufacturers. The Commission“s investigation into the flat glass sector saw it make surprise inspections in early 2005 at the European divisions of US company Guardian and Japanese company Asahi, as well as at Pilkington, France“s Saint-Gobain and the European Association of Flat Glass Producers. Between them, the four companies control almost 80% of Europe“s flat glass market. Between the two rounds of investigations, Asahi and its European subsidiary, Glaverbel, agreed to co-operate and so received the lowest fine. Announcing the fine in November 2007, Neelie Kroes, European commissioner for competition policy, said the Commission would not tolerate firms “cheating consumers and business customers”. She said: “The Commission has established that, in 2004 and 2005, representatives of these companies met covertly at hotels and restaurants around Europe. “At these meetings, they conspired to increase prices for flat glass, discussing both the amount and the timing of price increases. “The companies profited from selling flat glass at artificially inflated prices. The direct victims were the buyers of the flat glass, companies who made products such as double-glazing and safety glass”. “But the final victims were once again European consumers, who had to pay the price for the glass used in buildings, private homes and apartments”. NSG said it has already “made a provision for the estimated fine payment for building products and automotive glass” and so any fines will not affect its profit figures.