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Post-retirement Plan
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Cost (Reversal of Cost) [Abstract]  
Post-retirement Plans
Post-retirement Plans

Our net periodic pension expense consisted of the following components:
 
 
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
(In thousands)
Service cost - benefit earned during the period
 
$
1,027

 
$
1,104

Interest cost on projected benefit obligations
 
598

 
562

Expected return on plan assets
 
(811
)
 
(865
)
Net periodic pension expense
 
$
814

 
$
801



The expected long-term annual rate of return on plan assets is 5.75%. This rate was used in measuring 2019 net periodic benefit costs. We expect to contribute $3.3 million to the pension plans in 2019.

The net periodic benefit credit of our post-retirement healthcare and other benefits plans consisted of the following components
 
 
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
 
2019
 
2018
 
 
(In thousands)
Service cost – benefit earned during the period
 
$
367

 
$
412

Interest cost on projected benefit obligations
 
258

 
234

Amortization of prior service credit
 
(870
)
 
(870
)
Amortization of gain
 
(20
)
 
—

Net periodic post-retirement credit
 
$
(265
)
 
$
(224
)

Sonneborn has various post-retirement benefit plans for employees in the United States and in the Netherlands.
The plans for Sonneborn employees in the Netherlands include a defined benefit pension plan which was frozen and all plan participants became inactive in 2016. The plan assets are in the form of a third-party insurance contract that is valued based on the assets held by the insurer and insures a value which approximates the accrued benefits related to the plan’s accumulated benefit obligation. A new multiemployer pension plan was established in 2016, which is accounted for as a defined contribution plan. Also, in 2016, a new plan was established to provide future indexation benefits to participants who had accrued benefits under the expiring arrangements. Such benefits are funded by Sonneborn Refined Products B.V.
The plans for Sonneborn employees in the United States include a post-retirement medical plan and a multiemployer plan for union employees. These plans are accounted for as defined contribution plans.