PUBLISHER: Container News (www.container-news.com)
The White House has raised concerns about the lack of competition in global container shipping, caused by the domination of the market by the three container alliances.
2M, Ocean Alliance and THE Alliance have created a monopoly situation in global liner shipping, according to a blog post on the White House website, while nine carriers that have been organised into the aforementioned three alliances control about 80% of the global shipping market and 95% on the East-West trade lanes. The three liner groupings only controlled 29% of the market as recently as 2011, noted the White House.
2M Alliance is the largest alliance in the industry, comprising Maersk Line and MSC, Ocean Alliance includes CMA CGM, COSCO and Evergreen, while Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Yang Ming and HMM are the members of THE Alliance.