caustic soda anitrust (Direct)





If your company purchase liquid Caustic Soda (membrane or diaphragm form) directly from a Defendant (listed below) between October 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018 you may be eligible for a payment from this class action Settlement.



Settlement Amount: $38,500,000



Class Period:



October 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018



Class Members:



Entities in the United States that purchased liquid forms of membrane or diaphragm grade Caustic Soda directly from one or more of the Defendants (or from any of Defendants’ predecessors, subsidiaries, or affiliates) at any time between October 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018.


Excluded from the Settlement Class are Defendants, their predecessors, parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and all government entities, agencies, and instrumentalities. For purposes of this exclusion, “predecessors” includes the Dow Chemical Company, whose chlor-alkali business was acquired by Olin Corporation effective October 5, 2015 and Axiall Corporation, which was acquired by Westlake Chemical Corporation effective August 31, 2016.


Also excluded are purchases of Caustic Soda directly from a Defendant that were made under:

(i) long-term fixed price contracts that predate October 1, 2015

(ii) cost-based contracts (such as cost-plus contracts) with no component of price based on a Caustic Soda index

(iii) contracts that are based on an ECU (electrochemical unit) basis with no component of price based on a Caustic Soda index



Defendants:



  • K.A. Steel Chemicals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Olin Corporation and predecessor Dow (collectively, “Olin”)
  • Occidental Chemical Corporation (also known as “OxyChem”)
  • Westlake Chemical Corporation (“Westlake”)
  • Shintech Incorporated (“Shintech”)
  • Formosa Plastics Corporation U.S.A.(“FPC USA”)


Although not a defendant, Axiall Corporation was acquired by Westlake effective September 1, 2016, which is why Settlement Class Members include companies who purchased Caustic Soda directly from Axiall Corporation.


The “Non-Settling Defendants” are Olin and OxyChem



Background:



The lawsuit alleges that Defendants: (a) reached an agreement or understanding to raise Caustic Soda prices during the October 1, 2015, to December 31, 2018 time period (b) successfully carried out that agreement through periodic coordinated price increase announcements and other anti-competitive conduct and thereby (c) impacted and caused damages to all or nearly all class members, who paid higher prices for Caustic Soda than they would have paid absent the conspiracy.

Defendants have denied all of these claims, deny any wrong doing, and have asserted various defenses to the claims. The Court has not made any decision as to the merits of the Plaintiffs’ allegations


This is not an official Court Notice. Information contained in this Summary is subject to change.


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