I have been told today that Pilkington, Saint-Gobain and the rest of the glass cartel are ready to either ‘raise prices or they have done already.’

Oil is down, petrol and diesel prices have come down, operating costs haven’t shot up over the past few months as far as I’m aware, so why the sudden rise in costs? The way I see it, it’s the glass cartel flexing it’s muscles, demonstrating that it is free to raise prices whenever they like without fear of repercussions.

A few months ago, the EU imposed a massive fine on companies proven to be involved in a price fixing scam. The generally accepted narrative of the major glass manufacturers is that they also operate in a cartel-like fashion, so why is it that the powers that investigated the hardware companies haven’t found time to investigate the major glass companies?

Look at what happens when one manufacturer increases prices. The rest follow on a weekly basis over the next few week. Usually Pilks puts their up first, then the rest follow. Normally, a company putting it’s prices up would create an advantage for it’s competitors by being able to keep their costs the same if possible, giving them the edge. But no, all the other major players do the same. Presumably knowing the industry HAS TO buy glass from somewhere, so if everyone puts their prices up, there’s nothing the industry can do about it. For me, this is totally wrong – if this is true of course!

I don’t see a pressing need for a price rise. The economy has flattened out somewhat, inflation has eased to 2.8% when it was much higher, fuel has stabilised and come down slightly and recently our conservatory roof manufacturer actually decreased it’s glass roof prices. So where this rumoured price increase is coming from I do not know. What I am fairly sure of is that the major glass producers could do with a few calls from the European Commission to see if there is any foul play.