The Department of Justice has indicted 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 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….