Shipping magnate Teo Siong Seng and other container industry executives implicated in an alleged global price-fixing scheme have been named in two civil lawsuits filed in the United States.
New Legal Front: Civil Lawsuits Separate from Criminal Indictment
The class-action lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on June 2 and June 9, are separate from the criminal indictment brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. They mark a new legal challenge driven by private U.S. businesses.
In the suits, manufacturing firm C.A. Spalding Company and transportation firm Daybreak Express are separately seeking to recoup millions of dollars allegedly lost to the container cartel over several years. Both lawsuits are petitioning the court for “treble damages,” meaning the firms and executives could be forced to pay three times the actual financial losses if found liable.
The Alleged Cartel and Price-Fixing Scheme
The January 22 criminal indictment (unsealed May 19) named China International Marine Containers (CIMC), Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment, CXIC Group Containers, and Singamas Container Holdings—where Teo, a Singaporean, serves as chief executive—along with two unnamed manufacturers. The cartel produced approximately 95% of the world’s standard dry shipping containers.
Citing the indictment, the civil lawsuits allege cartel executives orchestrated a scheme to artificially inflate shipping container prices by restricting production. The conspirators limited the number of shifts and hours each production line could run daily and installed 87 video surveillance cameras across 49 container production lines at the firms’ factories to ensure “no company violated the agreed-upon output restrictions.”
Price Surge and Profits
Investigators said the price of a standard 20-foot shipping container more than doubled between 2019 and 2021, rising from about US$1,600 to US$3,500.
The alleged conspirators profited significantly from the higher prices:
- CIMC: Container manufacturing profits increased from about 137 million yuan in 2019 to 1.99 billion yuan in 2020, then 11.3 billion yuan in 2021.
- Singamas: Net income went from a loss of about US$110 million in 2019 to a profit of about US$186.8 million in 2021.
Individuals and Firms Named
Summonses were issued on June 8 and June 11, requiring the named executives and firms to formally respond within 21 days; failure to respond could result in a default judgment.
The individuals named include:
- Mai Boliang: CIMC president and CEO (became chairman in August 2020)
- Huang Tianhua: CIMC vice-president
- Wan Yongbo: CIMC Operation Management Centre general manager
- Li Qianmin: Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment general manager
- Zhang Yuqiang: CXIC Group Containers CEO
- Vick Ma: Singamas marketing director (Chinese national, awaiting extradition to the U.S. after arrest in France in April)
- Teo Siong Seng: Singamas CEO (Singaporean)
All except Teo and Vick Ma are Chinese nationals.
Teo’s Response and Current Status
Teo declined to comment when asked about the civil lawsuits. Since being named in the U.S. indictment, the 71-year-old has taken leave of absence from several roles, including:
- Executive chairman at Pacific International Lines (shipping company)
- Chairman at Singapore Business Federation (SBF)
- Member of the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce
- Board member at Enterprise Singapore (trade agency)
- Pro-chancellor at National University of Singapore
On May 28, in his first and only public statement since the accusations, Teo said: “I have proactively decided to take these leaves of absence to afford myself sufficient time to attend to this matter, and for the best interests of the aforementioned organisations.”
He also announced he does not plan to seek re-election when his SBF chairman term ends on June 24. Teo was elected to the role on May 20, 2025, after then-chairman Lim Ming Yan stepped down early to focus on his appointment as chairman of Changi Airport Group. Teo previously chaired the apex business chamber from 2014 to 2020, serving three consecutive two-year terms.