Teo Siong Seng price-fixing allegation: PIL declines comment on Singamas’ legal matters

[SINGAPORE] Singapore shipping veteran Teo Siong Seng has been accused by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) of conspiring with representatives of some of the world’s major container makers to fix the prices of containers, sending shares of a Hong Kong-listed company linked to him tumbling on Thursday (May 21). 

The shares of Singamas Container Holdings, of which he is executive chairman, fell 13.6 per cent to HK$0.51 on Thursday (May 21).

At the close of trading, the price of the counter sat below its 52-week low of HK$0.58. This was after trading resumed a day after the US DOJ unsealed the charges against the container manufacturer.

The company announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday that neither the company nor Teo has been served with any legal process or other legal documentation by the US DOJ.

Singamas is one of the four global leaders in container manufacturing implicated in the case.

Popularly known as SS Teo, the 71-year-old is arguably among the corporate leading lights in Singapore. He is also executive chairman of container shipping company PIL, chairman of the Singapore Business Federation and a board member of Enterprise Singapore.

He has not replied to an e-mail query from The Business Times.

A spokesperson for PIL, which holds a 41.7 per cent stake in Singamas, told BT: “Any individual who holds a role at both PIL and Singamas acts in their respective capacity and is subject to the duties applicable to the company, whose board or management they are serving.

“As the matter… concerns Singamas, PIL is not in a position to comment on Singamas’ internal or legal matters, or on Mr SS Teo in his capacity at Singamas.”

He said that Singamas has its own board of directors, including independent non-executive directors who are responsible for the oversight of Singamas’ management and operations in accordance with applicable governance requirements.

He added: “PIL does not control the board of Singamas or manage Singamas’ day-to-day operations.”

Apart from Singamas, the other three companies accused of price fixing are China International Marine Containers (CIMC), CXIC Group Containers and Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment.

The shares of CIMC closed 10 per cent or 1.13 yuan lower at 10.19 yuan on Thursday. In a regulatory filing to the stock exchange, the Chinese company said that it and its executives have also not been served with any legal process or other legal documentation.

The accused senior executives from CIMC are its CEO Mai Boliang, its vice-president Huang Tianhua and its general manager of its operations management centre Wan Yongbo.

The accused from CXIC Group Containers is its CEO Zhang Yuqiang, and from Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment, the named individual is Li Qianmin, the general manager.

A seventh accused person is Singamas’ marketing director Vick Ma, who was arrested in France in April at the US’ request, just as he was about to take a flight to Hongkong, said the US DOJ. He is currently awaiting extradition to the US.

Ma is accused of conspiring with Teo and the other five of colluding to fix the prices of dry containers from November 2019 until at least January 2024.

The allegations of collusion were made public by the US DOJ on Tuesday. It disclosed that it had charged all seven defendants and four companies in October 2025.

The acting assistant attorney-general Omeed Assefi of the DOJ’s anti-trust division said at a press conference on the work of the alleged cartel that the case is about US$35 billion in global commerce that has affected every American on a human level.

The defendants were said to have agreed to restrict their output of shipping containers by various means, such as by limiting the number of shifts and hours that each production line for containers could run daily. They are also alleged to have used video surveillance to ensure that the co-conspirators complied with the output quotas.

There were allegedly financial penalties for any of the four conspirators caught producing more than their allotted share.

Through this alleged conspiracy, these shipping container manufacturers are said to have posted a 100-fold jump in profits during the pandemic.

A violation of the anti-trust law carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a US$1 million fine for individuals; for corporations, the maximum penalty is a US$100 million fine.

But the fines could be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

BT has reached out to the US DOJ, Singapore’s police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers on whether a request has been made for Teo’s extradition.