The commodity pricing service named in an August 2024 lawsuit as the platform PVC pipe makers used to conspire to overcharge pipe buyers has denied wrongdoing, agreed to settle and said it would cooperate with ongoing litigation.
The class action lawsuit alleges that 10 leading PVC manufacturers “conspired and combined to fix, raise, maintain and stabilize” the price of PVC pipe in the United States by coordinating price increases via OPIS, which previously published daily prices and market trends. OPIS was also named a defendant in the lawsuit.
Now, to avoid the cost and uncertainty of litigation, OPIS has agreed to pay $6 million, according to a Reuters report which listed settlement terms.
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“Lawyers for buyers who procured pipe directly from one of the defendant manufacturers said they plan to amend their lawsuit based on OPIS’ cooperation to expand the scope of the alleged conspiracy,” Reuters reported.
In the class action lawsuit, three major PVC pipe distributors — Core & Main, Ferguson and Fortiline Waterworks — were named as co-conspirators, though not as defendants.
A Core & Main spokesperson told the Financial Times in December 2024 that it was “unaware of any price fixing, that any suggestion of its involvement was baseless and that ‘honesty and integrity are part of our core principles.’”
The OPIS settlement appears to be just the first resolution for the lawsuit as a whole. MDM will monitor the situation for any further fallout.
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