Beijing rejects the P3 Network. Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM decide to renounce to the operating alliance



The ministry of the Commerce of Beijing has announced today the decision to prohibit the concentration shipowning P3 Network planned from the Danish Maersk Line, the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and from the French CMA CGM, the first three companies for ability to the fleet of the field of the line transport, with the objective to rationalize the respective marine services on the routes East-West ( on 18 June 2013). As a result of the communication, the three companies have returned note the decision to renounce to start the new alliance operatingly.

The Chinese ministry, emphasizing not to have some opposition to the competition between enterprises that take advantage of an own dominant position on the market, has evidenced the necessity to carefully analyze projects that they preview an ulterior concentration of dominant positions as that proposed from Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM that would have created to a detentrice concentration of 47% about of the transport ability on the Asia-Europe routes. The ministry of Beijing has specified to have communicated to the three partner own worries about the possible effect of restriction to the competition determined from the start of the new P3 alliance and to have successively received by the three companies indication of measures in order to answer to such worries that - according to the Chinese ministry - difettano of adapted legal bases and tests of the their effective effectiveness. Therefore Beijing has explained to have determined to prohibit the concentration on the base of the normative Chinese antitrust.

"Alla Maersk Line - it has replied to such decision the responsible Trade and Marketing of the Danish shipowning company, Vincent Clerc - we have worked hardly in order to answer to the demands and the Chinese worries. Therefore, obviously, there is disappointment. The P3 would have offered to Maersk Line a more efficient Network and would have offered to our customers better producing". "Naturally - it has clarified the managing director of the Maersk group, Nils S. Andersen - the decision does not constitute a surprise for us, since all the partner have worked hard in order to answer to the worries of the authorities. The P3 alliance - it has observed Andersen - would have allowed with Maersk Line to ulteriorly reduce the costs and the emissions of co2 and, not last, to improve the services to own customers with a net of marine services more efficient. However they are rather trusting that Maersk Line will realize however these improvements. It has achieved progresses of this type in last the five trimesters without the P3 and - it has concluded - I have confidence that will continue to make it".

We remember that the authorities antitrust of the United States and the European Union had instead given the go-ahead free to the operating start of the shipowning alliance P3 ( on 21 March and 4 june 2014).