The European Commission and local officials raided glass makers in six European countries this week on suspicion of acting as a cartel by fixing prices, the European Union executive said today.
"The Commission has reason to believe that the manufacturers concerned may have . . . co-ordinated price increases and agreed on the introduction of a so-called 'energy surcharge' in the area of flat glass," it said in a statement.
The Commission said companies making car glass may have allocated customers and agreed on prices and supply quotas.
The statement came after British glassmaker Pilkington and French glass producer Saint-Gobain both issued statements saying they had been raided. Belgium-based Glaverbel, a unit of Japan's biggest glass maker Asahi Glass, confirmed that several of its European sites had been raided.
The Commission said it had conducted the raids on Tuesday and yesterday at makers of flat and car glass in Belgium, France, Germany and Britain.
It conducted raids in Sweden relating to flat glass and in Italy concerning car glass.
Pilkington and Glaverbel said they were co-operating with the Commission.