Washington, May 22 (IANS) The US Justice Department has charged four major shipping container manufacturers and seven executives in an alleged global conspiracy to restrict supply and fix prices during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prosecutors said the conspiracy ran from November 2019 through January 2024. It involved efforts to limit production and raise prices for standard dry shipping containers used in global trade.
The companies charged are Singamas Container Holdings Ltd., China International Marine Containers (CIMC), Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment Co. Ltd. operating under the Dong Fang brand, and CXIC Group Containers Co. Ltd.
The scheme roughly doubled container prices between 2019 and 2021. The Department of Justice said prosecutors said company profits surged during the global supply chain crisis caused by the pandemic.
One executive, Vick Nam Hing Ma of Singamas, was arrested in France on April 14. US officials are seeking his extradition. Six other executives remain at large.
According to prosecutors, executives met in Shenzhen in November 2019 to discuss ways to raise shipping container prices.
The indictment said the companies agreed to limit production shifts and factory operating hours. Prosecutors also alleged they agreed not to build new factories.
The companies allegedly installed 87 surveillance cameras across 49 production lines to monitor compliance with the agreement. Prosecutors said they also created a penalty system for companies that violated production limits.
US authorities said the conspiracy later expanded to include limits on production for specific customers, including US-based shipping lines, container lessors and logistics firms.
From September 2022 through November 2023, the companies allegedly agreed to cap overall cargo volume production. Prosecutors cited internal presentations referring to “Total Allowable capacity” and “allowable quota” targets.
“Global price-fixing cartels strike at the heart of our economic liberty. The defendants held hostage the world’s supply of ocean shipping containers during the Covid pandemic when our supply chains needed it the most,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the department was targeting “criminal actors most responsible for manipulating markets to profit from a global pandemic”.
The Justice Department said CIMC’s container business profits rose from about $19.8 million in 2019 to nearly $1.75 billion in 2021. Singamas reported a loss of about $110 million in 2019 before posting profits of about $186.8 million in 2021.
The defendants face charges under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Individuals could face up to 10 years in prison. Companies could face fines of up to $100 million or more.
--IANS
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