From CBS News, May 19:
Federal authorities are examining whether Chinese companies deliberately restricted the world's production of storage containers for the shipping trade just before the COVID-19 pandemic began six years ago, sources with knowledge of the probe told CBS News.
Investigators have been looking at a handful of Chinese firms that together control the majority of unrefrigerated shipping container manufacturing around the globe, the sources said.
The companies in late 2019 slowed production by restricting the number of hours employees worked, which the investigators believed indicated a conspiracy to cut global supply and inflate prices, two of the sources said.
Spokespeople for the Justice Department didn't immediately comment.
The companies' alleged moves came just before the global supply chain came under enormous strain.
China reported the first cluster of COVID-19 cases in December 2019 and the outbreak spread in early 2020.
According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, in the second half of 2020, the number of shipping containers in circulation was "insufficient to meet customer storage demands and higher than anticipated consumer demand for imports." The commission said that "unexpected recovery in demand shocked the distribution system."
In the first half of 2020, demand for containers dropped, as did orders for new container production, according to the ITC. During this period, some containers were used for long-term storage. In the second half of the year, U.S. demand for container-shipped imports grew more rapidly than expected and also exceeded the demand for eastward-bound U.S. exports, the ITC reported. At the same time, shipping activity was outpacing container manufacturing....
....MUCH MORE
That CBS Exclusive was followed by this at Reuters, later on May 19:
US charges seven Chinese executives and four firms with illegal shipping container cartel
Reuters updated the story and changed the headline but the URL still reads:
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-probing-if-china-firms-cut-output-containers-before-pandemic-says-cbs-2026-05-19/
Previously:
November 11, 2020 - Shipping: "Containers are ‘the new gold’ amid ‘black swan’ box squeeze"
And a tidbit from Shipping: "China Makes Waves, Seeking To Control World Shipping":...Another fresh study, by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, describes how Chinese companies function as “the maritime supply arm of the People’s Liberation Army” and have built “the largest port and logistics company in the world.” This includes producing 96% of the world’s shipping containers and building over a third of the ocean-going cargo ships....November 17, 2020 - Shipping: Containers, Containers, Containers
It's all anyone can talk about.December 14, 2020 - More on the Shipping Container Shortage: "A Mafia"
It seemed like a pretty big deal at the time.
