FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1996                             (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


       NIAGARA FALLS METALS PRODUCER INDICTED IN NATIONWIDE
                     PRICE FIXING CONSPIRACY 

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal grand jury in Buffalo, New
York, returned an indictment today against a Niagara Falls, New
York metals producer and its executive vice president for
participating in two separate nationwide price fixing
conspiracies involving products used to make steel, cast iron and
aluminum, said the Department of Justice.
     The Department's Antitrust Division filed a two-count felony
indictment in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, against
SKW Metals & Alloys Inc. and Charles Zak for conspiring to fix
prices of commodity ferrosilicon products from late 1989 until
mid 1991 and, for conspiring to fix prices of silicon metal from
the spring of 1991 until late 1992.  
     Commodity ferrosilicon products are alloys of iron and
silicon, used primarily in the production of steel and cast iron
to improve the properties of the finished product such as its
strength and corrosion resistance.  Silicon metal is used as an
alloying agent in the production of secondary and primary
aluminum.  Annual U.S. sales of both commodity ferrosilicon
products and silicon metal are more than $100 million.    
     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, said the charges resulted from a grand 
jury investigation in Buffalo, New York, into suspected collusion
by companies in the ferroalloys industry.  The investigation was
conducted by the Division's New York Field Office with the
assistance of the Buffalo Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
     The maximum penalty for a corporation convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act is a fine of $10 million, twice the
pecuniary gain the corporation derived from the crime, or twice
the pecuniary loss suffered by the victims of the crime,
whichever is greater.
     The maximum penalty for an individual convicted of a
violation of the Sherman Act is three years in jail and a fine of
$350,000, twice the pecuniary gain the individual derived from
the crime, or twice the pecuniary loss suffered by the victims of
the crime, whichever is greater.
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96-178