The Department of Justice is investigating potential price-fixing in the market for PVC pipes, which follows allegations of a conspiracy in the $4bn market for municipal water pipes and so-called electrical conduit pipes made in a recent short seller report and civil class action lawsuits.
Municipal water pipes and conduit pipes used to house electrical cables are commodity products typically sold in a variety of dimensions by distributors. The DoJ investigation follows a report in July by the pseudonymous short seller firm ManBear, which said prices “defy economic logic” and that price inflation had pushed “profits to never-before-seen levels” that were unsustainable.