The US Department of Justice has indicted four of the world’s biggest shipping container manufacturers and seven senior executives over an alleged global conspiracy to restrict production and inflate prices during the COVID-19 era supply chain crisis.
Prosecutors said the firms conspired between 2019 and 2024 to limit the output of standard shipping containers, helping to drive prices to more than double during the pandemic as global trade networks came under severe strain.
The case targets Chinese manufacturing giants including China International Marine Containers, Singamas Container Holdings, Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment and CXIC Group Containers, which together dominate more than 90 per cent of global container production.
According to the indictment, executives met at CIMC’s headquarters in Shenzhen in 2019 and agreed to impose factory quotas, cut shifts and cap output.
Prosecutors also allege the cartel used surveillance cameras and financial penalties to enforce compliance.
US officials said the scheme generated enormous profits during the pandemic shipping boom, with CIMC’s profits reportedly soaring from about $19.8 million in 2019 to nearly $1.75 billion by 2021.
One executive, Singamas marketing director Vick Nam Hing Ma, was arrested in France in April and is awaiting extradition to the United States, while six others remain at large.
The Justice Department said the alleged conspiracy worsened container shortages that fuelled port congestion, soaring freight costs and widespread disruption to global trade during the pandemic.
Prosecutors warned that the Sherman Act charges carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison for individuals and fines of up to $100 million for corporations.