The Department of Justice has charged four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers and seven former executives for allegedly orchestrating a yearslong global conspiracy to restrict production and inflate prices for standard shipping containers.
The superseding indictment, originally filed Jan. 22 and unsealed May 19, accuses the Chinese companies and executives of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by conspiring to limit output and fix prices for nearly all standard unrefrigerated ocean shipping containers between November 2019 and January 2024.
Federal prosecutors allege the scheme intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, when global supply chains were already under severe strain and demand for shipping equipment surged worldwide.
“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. They stole from everyday Americans who paid more and waited longer for vital goods as a result,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in a statement.
Among those indicted is Vick Nam Hing Ma, former marketing director of Singamas Container Holdings Ltd. Ma was arrested in France on April 14 and is currently awaiting extradition to the United States.
Also indicted were former Singamas CEO and Chairman Siong Seng Teo; former China International Marine Containers (CIMC) executive Boliang Mai; former CIMC Vice President Tianhua Huang; Yongbo Wan, former general manager of CIMC’s Operation Management Center; former Dong Fang General Manager Qianmin Li; and former CXIC Group Containers Co. Ltd. CEO Yuqiang Zhang. They are all Chinese residents, according to the Justice Department.
The indictment also names four container manufacturing companies: Singamas Container Holdings Ltd., CIMC, Dong Fang, and CXIC. Prosecutors say the firms manufactured and sold dry shipping containers to customers in the United States and around the world.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the firms for comment.
Prosecutors allege that executives from the competing firms began discussing plans to restrict output and raise prices as early as March 2019.
A key meeting allegedly took place on Nov. 14, 2019, at CIMC headquarters in Shenzhen, China. According to the indictment, executives from CIMC, Dong Fang, CXIC, and another unnamed co-conspirator agreed to coordinate production cuts in order to increase container prices globally.
The Justice Department says the companies implemented detailed controls to enforce the agreement including limiting factory shifts and daily operating hours; installing 87 surveillance cameras across 49 production lines to monitor compliance; agreeing not to build new manufacturing facilities; and creating a financial penalty system to punish companies that exceeded agreed production quotas.
Prosecutors allege that Singamas and another unnamed co-conspirator later joined the arrangement by March 2020.
The indictment claims the conspiracy evolved over time as container shortages intensified during the pandemic-era shipping crisis.
By September 2020, the companies allegedly agreed to restrict the number of containers produced for specific customers, including major U.S.-based shipping lines, logistics firms, and container leasing companies.
From September 2022 through at least November 2023, prosecutors say the conspirators also imposed caps on total cargo container production volume.
One example cited in the indictment involves a Nov. 20, 2023, presentation in which Ma and Teo allegedly reviewed “Total Allowable Capacity” and production quotas assigned to each participating manufacturer and factory line.
Federal prosecutors pointed to dramatic profit increases during the period of the alleged conspiracy.
According to the indictment, CIMC’s container manufacturing profits rose from approximately $19.8 million in 2019 to $288 million in 2020, before surging to roughly $1.75 billion in 2021. Singamas reported a loss of about $110 million in 2019, followed by profits of $4.6 million in 2020 and approximately $186.8 million in 2021.
The case may present challenges for U.S. prosecutors because China does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.