Conference (shipping)

A conference is an amalgamation of several liner shipping companies in the maritime sector . The mergers are voluntary cartels . In Germany, conferences are not subject to antitrust law .

A conference is managed by a so-called conference secretariat, which monitors the agreements of the conference and their compliance by the conference members.

Types of Conferences

Conferences are i. d. R .:

• Territorial cartels (geographical delimitation of the market area )
• Price cartels (members set freight rates unilaterally)
• Condition cartels (agreement of uniform conditions of carriage )
• Production cartels or quota cartels (agreements on capacities in the form of departure quotas, number of departures per member and year, loading quotas per port )
• Discount cartels (all cartel members grant shippers uniform discounts )

The legal independence of the companies that are members of a conference is retained, the economic independence is restricted in some areas. The primary aim of the conferences is to prevent ruinous competition .

A distinction is made between open and closed conferences:

• Open conference

An open conference must accommodate liner shipping companies who want to join the conference, provided they undertake to adhere to the conference regulations. Open conferences occur especially in dealings with the USA because the antitrust regulations in the USA prescribe open conferences. Conferences in the US are overseen by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).

• Closed conference

A closed conference (also called a regulated conference ) decides who becomes a member of the conference; Liner shipping companies wishing to join are not entitled to join.

pool

A pool is the enhanced form of the conference. The legal independence of the company is also retained here, but economic independence is more restricted than at a conference, e.g. B. through joint activities such as cargo acquisition and joint advertising.

A distinction is made in particular:

• Freight pool (also revenue pool or revenue pool)

The freight revenues of the pool members are added arithmetically after deducting certain costs (e.g. discounts, commissions, loading / unloading costs); the sum is distributed to the pool members according to a specific, previously defined key. This means that an entrepreneurial risk is distributed "across several shoulders"; there is no incentive for ruinous competition between pool members .

• Cargo pool

The entire cargo volume is distributed among the individual pool members. Anyone who loads more cargo than intended according to the quota ( overcarrier ) has to compensate financially (compensation payment ) those who loads less cargo than intended according to the quota ( undercarrier ).

Advantages and disadvantages

Conferences have advantages and disadvantages for conference members as well as for shippers.

• Benefits for conference members
  • sufficiently high tariff rates allow cost-covering operation
  • regular income, facilitate u. a. Planning, e.g. B. for investments
  • Reduced competition : no competition in terms of rates, no oversupply of tonnage if the timetable is coordinated, better utilization of capacities if the departures of the individual conference members do not overlap
  • relatively high capacity utilization due to ties to the shippers
  • better ways of influencing the market
• Disadvantages for conference members
  • high political pressure
  • The necessary bureaucracy prevents or slows down the ability to adapt to changing market conditions

• Advantages for shippers
  • fixed departure dates
  • Fixed freight rates (simplify the calculation for the shippers )
  • fixed freight rates even in times of high demand
  • Discounts
• Disadvantages for shippers
  • Fixed freight rates (reduce the willingness of the conference members to improve the service)
  • relatively high freight rates
  • no price reaction in times of low demand (however, the shippers may have the option to switch to outsiders)
  • The conference's quasi- monopoly position can be exploited

Discounts

Conferences usually give their customers discounts. A distinction is made between an immediate discount and a time discount:

• Instant discount

The immediate rebate is granted to shippers who commit themselves from the outset to exclusive loading with the members of a certain conference. The discount is usually 9.5% on the tariff rate.

• Time discount

The time discount ( deferred rebate ) is granted to shippers who do not undertake in advance to exclusively use conference members, but can prove that they have only used conference tonnage or have shipped a certain amount of cargo with conference tonnage. The discount is usually 10% on the tariff rate.

Outsider

As Outsider (from English, outsider ) is known shipping companies, most shipping lines in the same trading area operate as a conference, but operate independently from it.

Outsiders offer transport services at freight rates that are usually below those of the conference.

literature

• Federal Maritime Commission, Bureau of Trade Analysis (Ed.): Study of the 2008 Repeal of the Liner Conference - Exemption from European Union Competition Law. January 2012, 350 pages (PDF file, 10 MB)

See also

See also the liner conferences and similar agreements in land transport

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.fmc.gov