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The Justice Department has secured an indictment for four of the largest shipping-container manufacturers and seven of their top executives for allegedly conspiring to drive up the price of standard containers - a critical commodity for shipping, used for the transport of materials and finished goods of virtually every kind.
DOJ alleges that by 2020, a group of Chinese container OEMs - market leader CIMC, Dong Fang, CXIC, Singamas and an unnamed fifth firm - began working together to suppress their collective rate of production and raise their prices for standard dry shipping containers. To carry out the scheme, they allegedly agreed to a nonaggression pact for output and restricted shifts and hours for their respective production lines. To eliminate cheating - always a problem for cartels - they installed video cameras on nearly 50 container production lines so that they could all watch each other's operations. They also set up a funding mechanism that would penalize overproduction.
The conspiracy initially applied quotas on sales to specific individual lessors or shipping lines, DOJ claimed. By late 2022, the conspirators allegedly expanded the restrictions to include comprehensive caps on "total allowable capacity" for each company's annual production, a classic cartel arrangement.
Over this period, these companies became exceptionally profitable: CMIC's profit soared from $20 million in 2019 to $1.75 billion in 2021, when COVID-era container demand was at its peak. Singamas swung from a $110 million loss in 2019 to a profit of $190 million in 2021.
The DOJ's case picked up speed in April, when French authorities arrested Chinese national Vick Ma, 54, on a U.S. extradition request. Ma and six other Chinese executives (who remain at large) stand accused of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. Other defendants include Siong Seng Teo, 71, CEO and Chairman of Singamas; Boliang Mai, 67, chairman and CEO of CIMC; Tianhua Huang, 62, a vice president of CIMC; Yongbo Wan, 47, a general manager at CIMC; Qianmin Li, 62, general manager at Dong Fang; and Yuqiang Zhang, 49, CEO of CXIC.
"These defendants, as alleged, sought to exploit a global pandemic to increase their own profits. Their illegal agreement to fix prices and limit supply of these shipping containers resulted in the American consumer paying more and waiting longer for critical goods," said U.S. Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California. "We will not tolerate any attempt to manipulate the free markets."
If convicted on charges of conspiracy in restraint of trade, the defendants could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million ($100 million for companies). If prosecutors can establish that the harm or the gain from the offense were even greater, the financial penalty could increase further.
Fuente: Maritime Executive
