Monday, September 22, 2014
Maersk talks 2M with Chinese regulators
Maersk Line’s chief executive Soren Skou met on Friday with Chinese authorities about its prospective vessel sharing alliance with Mediterranean Shipping Company.
Skou met with the director-general of Ministry of Commerce’s anti-monopoly bureau, Shang Ming, who said in a July interview with China's state broadcaster he was worried the new pact could affect China's import-export firms' ability to bargain with large shipping firms. The two discussed the ministry's decision to block the previous alliance, the new pact and monopoly issues.
China’s Ministry of Commerce previously blocked the P3 Alliance, a larger ship-pooling deal that included Maersk, MSC and CGM CGA, due to competition concerns. Analysts say the new 2M pact has a better chance of gaining China's approval since it will give the container lines under30 percent of capacity on Asia-Europe trades, much less than the P3 had planned.
Skou also met China's Vice Minister of Transport, He Jianzhong, on Thursday during which they discussed the Chinese shipping market, a government statement said.
2M is currently awaiting U.S. regulatory approval. A.P. Moller Maersk's chief executive on Wednesday said U.S. approval was a formality.
For more of the Reuters story: www.reuters.com
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