Competitive Issues Among Liners in the Shipping Industry

Abstract

The challenging business environment affects every player, industry, and sector, including the liner shipping industry. The need to stay competitive is high on liner companies’ priority list. Furthermore, many liner companies have started to consolidate by either horizontal or vertical integration. In 2012, the government of Malaysia implemented the Competition Act 2010 (CA 2010). Later, in 2017, exemptions were awarded to liner companies to enable them to overcome the challenges in the business environment. Prior to this, a few liner companies were found guilty of price-fixing and were subsequently fined. This paper aims to examine the issues facing liner companies in the shipping industry.