PVC Pipe Maker Westlake Agrees to Pay $67 Million to Settle Price-Fixing Lawsuit
April 15: Lawyers for plaintiffs disclosed the proposed accord on Monday in federal court in Illinois. The settlement requires approval by a judge.
Allegations
The lawsuit, filed in 2024, alleges that Westlake and other major PVC pipe manufacturers conspired to fix prices charged to so-called direct purchasers and others in the United States beginning in early 2020.
Market Size
According to court filings, more than $3 billion of PVC municipal water pipes were sold in the United States in 2022. PVC pipes are also widely used for plumbing and electrical conduit applications.
Alleged Price-Fixing Mechanism
The lawsuit said pipe manufacturers used pricing data published by Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) to share competitively sensitive pricing and customer information. OPIS (owned by Dow Jones & Co) last year agreed to cooperate with the plaintiffs and to pay $3 million to resolve claims against it.
Westlake's Position
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Denies any wrongdoing
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Will cooperate with plaintiffs as they pursue related claims against other manufacturers including Atkore and Otter Tail
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Will produce documents previously provided to the U.S. Justice Department as part of a separate federal antitrust investigation
Related Investigation
The Justice Department has said a federal grand jury in California is investigating similar conduct alleged in the civil lawsuit.