THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed to DCN that it is investigating anti-competitive conduct in the container transport industry.
The Australian has reported ACCC chairman Rod Sims saying the investigation is not looking at cartel activity, but anti-competitive behaviour. He also told the newspaper that he is aware of “many complaints about containers, and we are investigating that”.
A spokesperson for the ACCC told DCN that they were unable to comment on potential investigations or complaints.
“The ACCC has a continuing investigation into whether anti-competitive conduct has led to price increases in the container transport industry,” the spokesperson said.
“The ACCC takes allegations of potentially illegal anti-competitive behaviour in Australia very seriously and can investigate where evidence is available indicating that a breach of the Competition and Consumer Act may have occurred.
“If a market participant has a specific competition-related concern about the commercial conduct of another business in their supply chain, they may contact the ACCC confidentially to provide any relevant information,” the ACCC spokesperson told DCN.
The ACCC already monitors the prices, costs and profits of container terminal operator companies at the ports of Adelaide, Brisbane, Burnie, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. Its annual container stevedoring monitoring report for 2020-21 is due out in early November.
