European Shippers' Council Calls on Competition Authorities to Cooperate
Shipping alliances will lead to market convergence and will reinforce the risk of reducing service quality and sailing frequency as well as free choice for manufacturers and retailers, as well as enhancing prices, according to the European Shippers’ Council (ESC)
It also has called for greater data monitoring by national competition authorities following recent announcements regarding shipping line collaborations which, it claims, are bringing “the container liner market one step closer to total convergence”.
The increased collaboration between the French container ship operator CMA CGM and Germany’s Hamburg Süd will bring the container liner market one step closer to total convergence, the European Shippers’ Council warns.
The Brussels-based organization wants a focus on “operational and juridical links between ship owners” and the “correlation between price modification and capacity modification”.
ESC, which represents the logistic interests of manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers, argued that the situation will “neither improve trade nor the growth of economies”, stating:” This new global partnership underlines the fact that the maritime liner competition should be seen from a global perspective and not at regional level.
The ESC says that operational and juridical links between ship-owners, as well as the correlation between price and capacity modifications should be among the data monitored. By doing this, competition authorities are set to switch from a curing stance to a more preventing mood which is far better for economic activities, the council argues.
Operational and juridical links between ship owners, correlation between price modification and capacity modification should be part of data monitored, among others. By having these data monitored, competition authorities will switch from a curing stance to a more preventing mood which is far better for economic activities.