Diisocyanates (MDI & TDI) Price-Fixing Class Action Settlements — $37.65M

Current Status

Claims are open. Five settlements totaling $37,650,000 have been reached in In re: Diisocyanates Antitrust Litigation, and each carries its own filing deadline: October 13, 2026 for Wanhua Chemical (America), October 19, 2026 for Dow and Huntsman, and November 2, 2026 for BASF and Covestro. The same dates are the exclusion and objection deadlines for those settlements. The court has scheduled a fairness hearing for December 7, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. ET, and has not yet decided whether to grant final approval, so no payment date has been announced. A direct purchaser who has not yet filed should submit a Claim Form by the earliest deadline that applies to its purchases.

What Changed Recently?

The Dow and Huntsman settlement, executed July 29, 2026, is the most recent of the five and the largest: Dow agreed to pay $14,000,000 and Huntsman International $6,000,000. It followed settlements with BASF Corporation ($2,900,000, plus $100,000 toward the cost of notifying the class), Covestro LLC ($7,000,000) and Wanhua Chemical (America) ($7,750,000). With those agreements in place, every company named as a defendant in the consolidated case has reached a settlement, and the notice program that opened the current claim windows is underway.

The underlying case is a multidistrict antitrust litigation in which the plaintiffs allege that the manufacturers conspired to fix prices and restrict the supply of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) sold in or shipped to the United States, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The complaint alleges the conspiracy was carried out through coordinated price-increase announcements and planned manufacturing shutdowns that tightened supply. Each settling defendant denies the allegations and denies any liability or wrongdoing; the settlements were reached to avoid the costs and risks of continued litigation, without any admission. The court has not ruled on the merits and has not decided in favor of either side.

Who Qualifies?

The settlement classes cover all persons and entities in the United States, its territories and the District of Columbia that purchased or received MDI or TDI products directly — including through controlled subsidiaries, agents, affiliates or joint ventures — from the defendants, from Covestro AG, Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Mitsui Chemicals America, Inc., MCNS or MCNS Polyurethanes USA Inc., or from the subsidiaries, affiliates or successors of any of those companies, at any time during the class period.

The class period starts January 1, 2016 and runs through the execution date of each individual settlement, which is why the classes do not all end on the same day: April 2, 2026 for BASF, May 8, 2026 for Covestro, July 9, 2026 for Wanhua and July 29, 2026 for Dow and Huntsman. "Products" means every kind of MDI and TDI regardless of the trade name it was sold under.

Excluded are the defendants and any companies named in the complaints, the alleged co-conspirators and their parents, subsidiaries and affiliates; state and federal government entities; the judicial officers presiding over the action, their immediate families and staff, and any juror assigned to the case; and any class member who timely and validly excludes itself. Indirect buyers are not covered — a company that bought polyurethane foam, insulation, coatings or finished goods made with MDI or TDI, rather than the chemicals themselves, is not part of these classes.