As part of an enquiry into alleged price fixing for the synthetic rubber EPDM in the US, Canada and Europe, the offices of several major European producers were searched in mid December by EU authorities seeking evidence. The European Commission began its investigation by conducting searches at the headquarters of Bayer (D-51368 Leverkusen; www.bayer.com) and the Heerlen and Sittard sites of DSM (NL-6401 JH Heerlen). Both companies said they cooperated fully with authorities. The searches follow earlier actions rubber price fixing probes in late September.

The investigation is believed to have been initiated by US-based Crompton Corporation (Middlebury, Connecticut; www.cromptoncorp.com), which tipped off US authorities after an internal audit turned up evidence of collusion among EPDM manufacturers. In exchange for coming forward, Crompton will receive immunity from prosecution. US companies believed to have received visits in connection with the probe include DuPont Dow Elastomers (Wilmington, Delaware; www.dupontdow.com) and ExxonMobil Chemical (Houston, Texas; www.exxonmobil.com).