ArcelorMittal Steel Price-Fixing Class Action Settlement

ArcelorMittal recently agreed to pay $90 million to settle its portion of an antitrust class action lawsuit. The class action lawsuit was filed against several steel manufacturers over allegations they conspired to restrict the output and fix the prices of steel products sold for delivery in the United States, in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

ArcelorMittal is the fourth steel manufacturer to agree to a class action settlement. Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation has agreed to pay $6.1 million, AK Steel Holding Corporation has agreed to pay $5.8 million, and Commercial Metals Company has agreed to pay nearly $4 million to settle their portions of the steel antitrust class action lawsuit.

Under the terms of the class action settlement, ArcelorMittal agreed to help prosecutors build their case against defendants who have not agreed to settlements. These defendants include Nucor, Steel Dynamics, SSAB Swedish Steel Corp. and U.S. Steel. ArcelorMittal denies any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the steel price-fixing class action lawsuit to avoid the risk and expense of ongoing litigation.

Who’s Eligible

If you bought steel products from directly from ArcelorMittal or another of the defendants for delivery in the United States between April 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2007, you could be a Class Member of the steel antitrust settlement.

Under the terms of the ArcelorMittal class action settlement, steel products are defined as products derived from raw carbon steel, including but not limited to all carbon steel slabs, plates, sheet and coil products; galvanized and other coated sheet products; and billets, blooms, rebar, merchant bar, beams and other structural shapes.

Potential Award

At this time, it is not known how much each Class Member will be eligible to receive from the steel price-fixing class action settlement. It is likely that the awards will be distributed on a pro rata basis based on the value of the claims and how many total claims are filed.

Proof of Purchase

Details about how to file a claim for the steel price-fixing class action settlement were not immediately available.

Claim Form Deadline

2/3/15

Case Name

In re: Steel Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:08-cv-05214, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division

Final Hearing

7/10/2014

Settlement Website

www.SteelAntitrustSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Steel Antitrust Litigation
c/o GCG
P.O. Box 9349
Dublin, OH 43017-4249
1-800-231-1815

Class Counsel

FINE KAPLAN AND BLACK RPC

KELLOGG HUBER HANSEN TODD EVANS & FIGEL PLLC

Defense Counsel

N/A

UPDATE: The Settlement Administrator has posted the following update:

The Court will hold a hearing regarding Plaintiffs’ Motion to Distribute, and any objections, on Wednesday, October 21, at 2:00 pm (CDT). Papers in support of Plaintiffs’ motion are available HERE. We expect to be able to distribute Settlement Funds to the Class within 10 days of the Court’s approval of a distribution.