Clariant rejects Dow Europe's $1.3 billion competition law claim

July 17 (Reuters) - Clariant said on Friday it is rejecting a 1.1 billion euro ($1.26 billion) damages claim from Dow Europe filed against four companies for alleged competition law infringement in the ethylene purchasing market.

The Swiss specialty chemicals makers in the past has received similar claims from OMV, BASF and TotalEnergies.

In 2020, the European Commission fined Clariant, Mexico's Orbia and U.S. group Celanese a total of 260 million euros for colluding to keep the price of ethylene purchases low.

"Clariant firmly rejects the (Dow Europe's) allegation and will adamantly defend its position in the proceedings," the company said in its statement. The claim was filed with the court of Dortmund in Germany, it added.

Dow Europe couldn't be immediately reached for a comment outside regular business hours.

Clariant did not name the other companies in its statement. However, it added that it has "substantiated economic evidence that the conduct of the parties did not produce any effect on the market."

($1 = 0.8744 euros)

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Barcelona; Editing by Vijay Kishore)