Shipping containers, but make it a cartel
The U.S. says four Chinese manufacturers that make nearly all of the world’s standard shipping containers teamed up during the pandemic to choke supply and push prices higher. If that sounds like the plot of a very niche crime drama, well, it kind of is.
Why this matters
Shipping containers are the boring backbone of global trade — the cardboard box of the oceans. When the price of those boxes gets distorted, the pain can show up everywhere else:
- higher freight costs for importers and exporters
- tighter margins for companies that ship a lot of goods
- a little extra inflation gremlin hanging around supply chains
The bigger picture
The indictment is a reminder that even the most unglamorous corners of the global economy can have outsized power when supply is concentrated. If prosecutors are right, this wasn’t just price-gouging — it was a coordinated squeeze on a market the world relies on.
Big picture: when the people making the boxes allegedly game the system, everybody downstream pays for the packaging.