Singapore shipping billionaire Teo Siong Seng has been swept into a major US antitrust investigation, with American prosecutors accusing him of helping orchestrate a global scheme to inflate dry-container prices in a case that has sent shockwaves through the maritime industry.
Seng, one of Singapore’s most influential business figures and chief executive of Singamas Container Holdings Ltd, was named alongside several senior executives from four of the world’s largest container manufacturers in a US Justice Department indictment alleging a “global conspiracy affecting billions of dollars of commerce”.
The indictment, filed in January, alleges Seng joined a cartel-style arrangement designed to restrict container production through quotas and punish companies that exceeded agreed output limits between 2019 and 2024.
Also named in the probe are China International Marine Containers Co, Dong Fang International Container Co and CXIC Group Containers Co, along with top executives linked to the firms.
The case places fresh pressure on Singapore’s maritime sector, which has faced a string of damaging corporate scandals in recent years. The founder of Hin Leong Trading was jailed after concealing massive losses from more than 20 banks, while Seatrium Ltd agreed to pay US$241 million to settle a sprawling corruption investigation in Brazil.
Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Friday that Seng would step aside temporarily from his positions at the Singapore Business Federation, the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce and Enterprise Singapore while he focuses on responding to the indictment. His term as chairman of the business federation was due to run until June.
Hong Kong-listed Singamas said it had appointed external legal advisers and insisted its operations continued as normal. The company added that neither it nor Seng had been formally served by the US Justice Department.
Pacific International Lines, Singamas’s parent company, declined to comment on the allegations or on Seng’s role within the subsidiary.
According to US prosecutors, Seng was briefed ahead of a December 2019 meeting in Shanghai held to discuss the “healthy development” of the container industry. Investigators allege he was subsequently informed of plans to artificially suppress production before a formal agreement was struck among the alleged co-conspirators.
The indictment further claims steps were taken to conceal the alleged collusion from regulators and the wider market.