The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) has given the nod to a proposed joint venture between three Japanese shipping lines.
Japan’s big three shipping groups, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), announced last year an integration of their container shipping business with the establishment of a joint venture by 1 July 2017 and the commencement of joint servce from 1 April 2018.
Under the JV, the Parties will merge their container liner shipping business, and their container terminal services businesses outside Japan. The only overlapping service of the Parties that would affect Singapore is the provision of container liner shipping services.
The Parties also provide logistics services, bulk shipping, car transport, and liquid transport, through their respective subsidiaries. However, such services will continue to be conducted by the Parties separately and independently from each other and the JV.
In examining the impact of the JV on the global supply of container liner shipping services for intra-Asia trade routes, and for trades involving the East Asia region (which includes Singapore), as both origin and destination with various other regions around the world such as Europe and North America (collectively, the “Relevant Markets”), CCS conducted a public consultation and sought feedback from vessel operating common carriers, non-vessel operating common carriers, and beneficial cargo owners.
The new JV will create a company that will control 7 percent of the world container-shipping trade and will be the world’s sixth-largest box carrier.
The global container industry has been in turmoil since the 2008 financial crisis brought trading to its knees.