Are carriers colluding again?
Shippers claim signalling to the market is a return to the bad old days
Shippers have questioned whether container carriers have colluded on rates on major routes through price leadership.
Andrew Traill, MD of shipper website Shippers’ Voice, told IFW’s sister publication Lloyd’s List that he was concerned that carriers were "signalling" their future prices, a practice judged to breach antitrust laws.
He said: “Are these people [carriers] colluding – because they are all doing the same things?
“The point about ‘signalling’ to the market is that it depends on whether it has an effect on the market, or is designed to influence others.
“Carriers are allowed to say what they intend to do, as long as they have not decided collectively, which is a very difficult thing to prove.
“But I do think lines have to be very careful right now. They have turned people’s eyes towards them and I am aware of a number of shippers and groups that have been suggesting that this needs to be looked at.
“I think it is only a matter of time before something develops here. They are treading a fine line and it all points to the old ways, which are now illegal.”
Andrew Traill, MD of shipper website Shippers’ Voice, told IFW’s sister publication Lloyd’s List that he was concerned that carriers were "signalling" their future prices, a practice judged to breach antitrust laws.
He said: “Are these people [carriers] colluding – because they are all doing the same things?
“The point about ‘signalling’ to the market is that it depends on whether it has an effect on the market, or is designed to influence others.
“Carriers are allowed to say what they intend to do, as long as they have not decided collectively, which is a very difficult thing to prove.
“But I do think lines have to be very careful right now. They have turned people’s eyes towards them and I am aware of a number of shippers and groups that have been suggesting that this needs to be looked at.
“I think it is only a matter of time before something develops here. They are treading a fine line and it all points to the old ways, which are now illegal.”
Click here to email the editor and comment on this story
Receive our FREE news email bulletin click here
- 13 − 15 March 2012
- 22 − 23rd March 2012
- 25th April 2012 for 12 weeks.
- 12 − 14 June 2012
