Major Manufacturers Have Illegally Fixed PVC Pipe Prices Nationwide, Antitrust Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges several companies have illegally conspired to artificially inflate, fix or otherwise manipulate the price of finished PVC pipes sold in the United States since at least 2021.

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The 60-page antitrust lawsuit explains that raw polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most widely used plastics in the world as its versatility and durability allow it to be used across a number of industrial applications, most commonly in the construction of pipes used to transport water or insulate electrical wiring.

Twelve of the 13 defendants, the largest makers, or “converters,” of PVC pipe in the U.S., have allegedly used a weekly report from an intermediary price reporting agency to unlawfully coordinate PVC pricing strategies, share competitively sensitive data, extend collusion offers, intimidate other market participants, and overall fix prices for finished PVC piping. 

Related Reading: CPVC Pipe Failure Lawsuit Investigation

As a result of the alleged PVC pipe conspiracy, the defendants have, to the detriment of consumers, construction companies, electricians, utilities and municipalities, industrial and manufacturing plants, telecom entities and others, reaped record profits off “supracompetitive” prices amid a PVC market estimated to eclipse $25 billion this year, the complaint charges.

Central to the proposed class action suit is the ProtoChem Wire PVC & Pipe Weekly report distributed by defendant Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). This report provides a summary of the current conditions of the PVC pipe market for municipal water, plumbing and electrical conduit; includes information from market participants; and offers a “midpoint” with regard to pricing for finished PVC pipe, the complaint relays.

According to the case, OPIS has established a “close-knit, two-way relationship” with the major players in the PVC pipe market. In particular, OPIS receives from converters and distributors “a daily inflow of information,” including prices, projections and transactions, and in turn the agency provides those companies with reports that include pricing benchmarks, on which converters and distributors rely to set their own pricing, the lawsuit claims.

The filing describes OPIS as “in constant communication” with the converter defendants, often acting as a go-between while the companies have allegedly “pushed their relationship as competitors past the boundaries set by the antitrust laws.”

“Since at least January 2021, the Converter Defendants have used OPIS to facilitate an agreement to fix the price of PVC pipe sold in the United States,” the lawsuit summarizes, relaying that between January 2021 and mid-2022, the price of PVC pipes rose by nearly 250 percent compared to the 50-percent price increase for PVC resin. Per the suit, while resin prices have decreased since late 2022, PVC pipe prices “remain elevated to this day.”

The PVC pipe lawsuit names as defendants Atkore Inc.; Cantex Inc.; Diamond Plastics Corporation; IPEX USA LLC; Jet Stream, Inc.; JM Eagle; National Pipe & Plastics, Inc.; Oil Price Information Service; Otter Tail Corporation; Prime Conduit, Inc.; Sanderson Pipe Corporation; Southern Pipe & Supply Company, Inc.; and Westlake Corporation.

The defendants’ allegedly anticompetitive conduct has been compounded by “a flurry of coordinated acquisitions” over the last 10 years, leaving the PVC pipe market “extremely consolidated” and effectively controlled by only a few distributors in the U.S., the suit adds.

The suit looks to represent all individuals or entities in the United States and its territories who bought PVC pipe from at least as early as January 1, 2021 and until the defendants’ alleged conduct and its “anticompetitive effects” end.

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