Legal & Regulatory Issues

DOJ Indicts Major Container Manufacturers, Executives in Alleged Global Price-Fixing Scheme

The DOJ charged four major container manufacturers — which combine to produce nearly all of the world's standard unfrigerated shipping containers — and seven of their executives with allegedly conspiring to restrict output and inflate prices during the pandemic-era supply chain crisis.

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers and seven current or former executives over an alleged years-long conspiracy to restrict production and fix prices for standard dry shipping containers during the COVID-era supply chain crunch.

The indictment — unsealed May 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California — alleges the companies coordinated output reductions and pricing actions from at least November 2019 through January 2024, affecting billions of dollars in global commerce.

The companies named include China International Marine Containers (CIMC), Singamas Container Holdings, Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment (Dong Fang) and CXIC Group Containers. DOJ officials said the companies collectively manufacture roughly 95% of the world’s standard unrefrigerated shipping containers.

According to prosecutors, the alleged conspiracy roughly doubled shipping container prices between 2019 and 2021 while dramatically increasing manufacturer profits during one of the most disruptive supply chain periods in modern history.

The DOJ alleges executives coordinated production cuts by reducing factory shifts and operating hours, limiting new capacity expansion and enforcing production quotas among manufacturers. Prosecutors also allege the companies used factory surveillance systems to monitor compliance with agreed-upon output limits.

One executive defendant, Vick Nam Hing Ma of Singamas, was arrested in France in April and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. Six other executives remain at large.

The case revives scrutiny of pandemic-era supply chain pricing dynamics that drove historic freight inflation and product shortages across wholesale distribution channels. During 2020 and 2021, container shortages became a major bottleneck for importers, manufacturers and distributors as ocean freight rates surged and product lead times stretched globally.

DOJ officials tied the alleged conduct directly to broader economic disruption during the pandemic. Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed Assefi said the case concerns companies that allegedly “lined their own pockets by choking the world’s supply of shipping containers.”

The charges were filed under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. If convicted, the companies and executives could face substantial criminal penalties tied to the volume of affected commerce.