Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Plastics News Europe
  • Plastics & Rubber World
  • Plastics News China
  • Rubber & Plastics News
logo-pn-color
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • End Markets
    • FYI Charts
    • LSR World
    • NPE 2018
    • Top materials of injection molders
      Recycled PET use by product category
      US PET, flexible packaging desintations
      Global fluropolymers additives market: CAGR
    • Who doesn't like football? And pets?
      Donnelly adds press for complex parts
      'A constant champion for our industry'
      Carteaux's legacy: Saving and transforming the Plastics Industry Association
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Plastics News Now
    • Processor of the Year
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Bumper to Bumper
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
  • Opinion
    • Viewpoint
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • What Keeps You Up At Night
    • 2019: The year the business cycle caught up to plastics machinery
      Turning a recycling nightmare into a success story
      Unlikely story of how a plastic survey marker brought people together
      Auto industry changes look like bad news for toolmakers
    • What makes a company attractive for acquisition?
      How plastics manufacturers are maximizing existing machinery
      Trademarks of the successful packaging supplier
      Molding innovations come from partnerships
    • A workable solution?
      Slower growth won't mean less M&A activity
      Skibbereen correct to stop RTP compounding plant
      Container fee a 'public relations gimmick'
    • Hubertz focused on finding new business for Wisconsin's Vision Plastics
      Photos by Don Loepp
      Busy times for Mike Walter at Met2Plastic
      Plastic Parts Inc. photos by Don Loepp. Jill has the dark sweater
      ‘Scientific mindset' works for Wisconsin's Plastic Parts
      Partnerships help i2tech keep growing
  • Blogs
    • In Motion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Pop Goes Plastics
    • Behind the lens
    • Heavy Metal
    • One Good Resin
    • NO. 7
    • From Pillar to Post
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • A 30-year-old plastics millennial
      Need skilled workers? Maybe you're looking in the wrong places
      Pondering the potential of exposure to the skilled trades
      Generations change with time, but we all share one thing in common
    • Plastics News journalists honored for outstanding work
      Forget about the mousetrap. Who can build better sustainability?
      'They didn't mean to be discriminatory'
      Plastics News welcomes reader opinions
    • Kickstart: The Sustainability Bowl
      Kickstart: Picture women in charge
      Kickstart: Living in a material world
      Kickstart: The Island of Misfit Toys
    • I’ve seen our strawless future. And it’s just fine
      South Africa takes on straws, plastics waste
      California's straw law gains interest
      DC straw ban enforcement and January usage totals
    • A 30-year plastics veteran
      An expert on workplace shootings warns: 'Lightning can strike anywhere'
      Public companies see opportunity in plastics machinery
      Celebrating National Adirondack chair day? Why not? It's all American!
    • PolyOne's Patterson recognized by University of Michigan
      Lubrizol, Maroon Group show support for science education
      MAPP awards top firms for innovation and education
      Polymers of a feather stick together at University of Akron
    • A sustainable lid for your lid (read the footnotes if you're confused)
      Berry, Sabic join forces in chemical recycling
      Recycling? For Gerber, it's child's play
      Canada and the work toward a greener legal marijuana industry
    • Raise the roof: Housing starts hit a 12-year high
      Finding a place for polymer siding in New Urbanism
      Uponor's new manufacturing plant honored again
    • Kickstart: Holy LCA Batman!
      Plastics industry's top issues on display at Chinaplas
      Basel talks consider changes to plastic scrap trade
    • The state with the most compounders? Here's a hint
      A peek behind the data in our 2019 ranking of North American blow molders
      Turning anecdotes on women-owned companies into data
      Signs of fall: Pumpkin spice, falling leaves, mold making report
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars/Live Streams
    • Plastics News Live
    • Become a Speaker
    • Women Breaking The Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive 2020
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
  • Resin Resources
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Datasheets
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • K Show
  • More+
    • Data Store
    • Classifieds
    • Newsletters
    • Directory
    • Digital Edition
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 30, 2014 01:00 AM

EU fines urethane foam makers for price fixing

RUBBER && PLASTICS NEWS
URETHANES TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    BRUSSELS—The European Union Commission has fined Recticel SA, Carpenter Co., Greiner Holding AG and Eurofoam Group around $155 million for their part in a foam cartel.

    Grand Cayman-based Vita Group, which alerted the commission, escaped a fine.

    Carpenter of Richmond, Va., was fined $102 million for its part in the cartel. The commission said it was Carpenter's Europeans subsidiaries that were involved in the cartel, and that the U.S. firm was held liable only on the basis of being the parent company.

    According to the commission, the companies—along with Vita—colluded to fix the price of various types of foam in 10 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom, between 2005 and 2010.

    "Cartels harm our entire economy and cannot be tolerated," said Joaquin Almunia, the commission's vice president in charge of competition policy. "This case illustrates how essential it is to keep fighting and sanctioning such illegal behavior."

    Vita escaped a fine on the basis that the company revealed the existence of the cartel to EU officials. Brussels-based Recticel, Greiner of Kremsmünster, Austria, and Vienna-based Eurofoam—a joint venture between Recticel and Greiner—each received a 50 percent reduction on the fine under the commission's lenience program after cooperating during the investigation.

    Recticel was fined $10.1 million for its own its involvement. In addition, the Eurofoam joint venture between Recticel and Greiner was fined more than $43 million.

    Recticel has yet to release its financial figures for 2013, in which the impact of the fine will be reflected. The companies have 90 days to pay, but the commission said Recticel will request to pay the fine over several years.

    Austria's Greiner was fined $33 million.

    In December, Recticel's external communications and investor relations manager, Michel De Smedt, said the company already was bracing itself for 2014 to be a "tough trading year."

    Between 2011 and 2012, year-on-year sales fell 4.3 percent to $1.8 billion.

    According to the commission, the cartel passed on raw material price increases to customers in order to avoid aggressive price competition between the four producers. Price coordination meetings took place at all levels of European management, and players in the cartel would meet on the margins of European and national associations. The cartel members also shared their contacts, the commission said in a news release.

    "Recticel and Eurofoam decided to cooperate with the commission under its leniency program and have continued that through to the present day," Recital said in a statement. "When the commission offered the option of settlement, Recticel and Eurofoam decided to pursue the settlement process in order to accelerate resolution of the matter. Recticel's fine accordingly reflects discounts for cooperation."

    The firms manufacture flexible polyurethane foam, the majority of which is used in mattresses or sofas. Car seats account for about 25 percent of the total flexible foam market.

    The companies have the right to appeal the decision.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    As toolmakers press to bring back tariffs, other manufacturers push back
    Trelleborg launches major restructuring plan
    TPG investing $14.3M in Kentucky blow molding operations
    Auto industry changes look like bad news for toolmakers
    Indorama acquires California PET recycler Green Fiber International
    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    logo-pn-color
    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Plastics News Europe
    • PRW
    • LSR World
    • Rubber & Plastics News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Plastics News China
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    Copyright © 1996-2019. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Plastics News Now
        • Processor of the Year
        • Numbers that Matter
        • Bumper to Bumper
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • FYI Charts
        • Current FYI
      • LSR World
      • NPE 2018
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Galleries
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • Viewpoint
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • What Keeps You Up At Night
    • Blogs
      • In Motion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Pop Goes Plastics
      • Behind the lens
      • Heavy Metal
      • One Good Resin
      • NO. 7
      • From Pillar to Post
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Women Breaking The Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive 2020
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
      • Industry Events
      • Webinars/Live Streams
      • Plastics News Live
      • Become a Speaker
    • Resin Resources
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
      • Datasheets
    • Rankings
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • K Show
    • More+
      • Data Store
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified
      • Newsletters
      • Directory
      • Digital Edition