Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits

Service cost for net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs are included in Cost of sales, exclusive of depreciation and amortization, Selling, general and administrative, and Research and development in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income. All other components of net periodic benefit cost are recorded in Other charges, except for pension settlement charges, in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of income.

The net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit costs for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:



	Pension						Other Postretirement Benefits
	Three Months Ended March 31						Three Months Ended March 31
($ in millions)	2018			2017			2018			2017
Service cost		$8			$9			$2			$2
Interest cost	24			24			6			7
Expected return on plan assets	(38		)	(34		)	—			—
Amortization of actuarial losses	16			19			5			5
Amortization of prior service credit	—			—			(15		)	(13		)
Pension settlement charge	—			22			—			—
Net periodic benefit cost		$10			$40			($2	)		$1

PPG expects its 2018 net periodic pension and other postretirement benefit cost, excluding settlement losses, to be approximately $25 million, with pension expense representing approximately $35 million and other postretirement benefit cost representing a benefit of approximately $10 million.

Contributions to Defined Benefit Pension Plans



	Three Months Ended March 31
($ in millions)	2018		2017
U.S. defined benefit pension contributions		$25		$29
Non-U.S. defined benefit pension mandatory contributions		$5		$5

PPG made a $25 million voluntary contribution to its U.S. defined benefit pension plans in January 2018. PPG expects to make mandatory contributions to its non-U.S. pension plans in the range of $20 million to $30 million during the remaining nine months of 2018 and may make voluntary contributions to its defined benefit pension plans in 2018 and beyond.

U.S. Non-qualified Pension

In the first quarter 2017, PPG made lump-sum payments to certain retirees who had participated in PPG's U.S. non-qualified pension plan (the "Nonqualified Plan") totaling approximately $40 million. As the lump-sum payments were in excess of the expected 2017 service and interest costs for the Nonqualified Plan, PPG remeasured the periodic benefit obligation of the Nonqualified Plan as of March 1, 2017 and recorded a settlement charge totaling $22 million million ($14 million after-tax).