標題: 15 Carriers Agree to EU's GRI Modifications
時間: February 17, 2016
資料來源: marinelink
新聞網址: http://www.marinelink.com/news/modifica ... iers405242
內文:
15 container liner shipping companies have said they will stop publishing and communicating general rate increases (GRIs) that are expressed solely as an amount or percentage of the change, says the European Commission.
Shipper representatives have welcomed an agreement by the container lines to abandon GRIs in favour of a new pricing announcement mechanism following a two-year inquiry by the EU into possible competition infringements – alleged “price signalling” – by lines.
The announcement grows out of an EC decision to open formal antitrust proceedings that investigate the practice of publishing GRI announcements and whether carriers engaged in concerted practices in breach of EU antitrust rules in November 2013.
The Commission has concerns that container liner shipping companies' practice of publishing their future price increase intentions may harm competition and customers by raising prices for their services to and from Europe, in breach of EU antitrust rules.
Container liner shipping is the transport of containers by ship at a fixed time schedule on a specific route between a range of ports at one end (e.g. Shanghai - Hong Kong - Singapore) and another range of ports at the other end (e.g. Rotterdam – Hamburg - Southampton). Container shipping accounts for the vast majority of non-bulk freight carried by sea.
Fifteen container liner shipping companies (carriers) have regularly announced their intended future increases of freight prices on their websites, via the press, or in other ways.
The carriers are China Shipping (China), CMA CGM (France), COSCO (China), Evergreen (Taiwan), Hamburg Süd (Germany), Hanjin (South Korea), Hapag Lloyd (Germany), HMM (South Korea), Maersk (Denmark), MOL (Japan), MSC (Switzerland), NYK (Japan), OOCL (Hong Kong), UASC (UAE) and ZIM (Israel).
These price announcements, known as General Rate Increases or GRI announcements, do not indicate the fixed final price for the service concerned, but only the amount of the increase in US-Dollars per transported container unit (twenty-foot equivalent unit, "TEU"), the affected trade route and the planned date of implementation. They generally concern sizable increases of several hundred US Dollars per TEU.
The UK’s Freight Transport Association (FTA) said it “looks forward to more transparency in shipping line prices” following the European Commission’s investigation, which led an announcement today by the Commission proposing the new pricing structure.
Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company, said on Tuesday it would change the way it publishes price changes following a competition probe by the European Union.
Its announcement confirmed earlier reports by Reuters that shipping companies will need to implement measures that would essentially cap their price rises.
分析與心得
2011 年歐盟執委會懷疑 15 家定期航運貨櫃公司違反歐盟反托拉斯之規定，航運貨櫃公司所發布未來價格增長意向的做法可能會損害競爭和客戶，因為他們提供服務往返歐洲的價格，違反歐盟反托拉斯規則，對這些公司在歐盟境內之辦事處進行突擊檢查； 2013 年時歐盟執委會認為這 15 家公司自 2009 年以來，透過媒體或是自家網站所發布的一般費率調漲聲明，指定相同或相似的航線調漲費率，並且會在實施日前三到五週之間進行發布，因此，歐盟執委會對這 15 家公司啟動反托拉斯調查程序。
這15家業者包含了台灣的長榮海運、新加坡的海皇輪船、香港的東方貨櫃、南韓最大的韓進海運，被歐盟懷疑聯手操控價格者，也涉及歐洲業者，包括全球最大船運公司丹麥的馬士基、法國達飛（CMA）及德國赫伯羅特貨櫃航運都遭搜索並約談員工及調閱內部文件。但各大船公司過去曾表示，是因將多餘的船隻暫時閒置不用，以免產能過剩，各公司均獨立作業，沒有議價。近期以來，由於產能過剩和全球經濟蕭條等原因，航運公司遭遇嚴冬，被迫削減成本和提升規模效益，因此各企業達成協議，放棄GRI，贊成新的定價公告機制。
相關報導或補充資料
相關連結: 自由時報
相關標題: 歐盟反托拉斯 突擊搜索長榮海運
相關內容:
歐盟主要是追查二○○九至二○一○年海運貨櫃價格為何上漲，當時航運業面臨二戰以來最嚴重的衰退，產值下降十二％，外界期待運費調降，結果恰恰相反。二○○九年一月，四十呎貨櫃費用為一六○三美元，隔年大漲五成七至二五一七美元。
根據馬士基發言人Storgaard的說法，歐盟調查的時間範圍會追溯到二○○八年底，國際航運公司彼此間原本有海運同盟（Shipping Conference），該同盟允許會員與競爭者討論費率。二○○六年歐盟決議禁止該同盟運作，並在二○○八年生效，此後任何議價行為都涉及聯合壟斷。
資料來源: http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/paper/493624
