The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has raised preliminary concerns about DP World Australia‘s planned purchase of Silk Logistics in its Statement of Issues.
DP World Australia operates container stevedores at Botany (Sydney), Melbourne, Brisbane , and Fremantle. On average, DP World Australia services around one-third of the containers processed at these ports.
Silk Logistics is one of Australia’s few national door-to-door container logistics services, transporting import and export containers by truck to and from the ports where DP World Australia operates.
The planned acquisition would result in DP World Australia, a large container stevedore, controlling a national container transport company.
ACCC Commissioner, Dr Philip Williams, said: “We have heard concerns that DP World’s ownership of a national container transport provider is likely to reduce competition in the supply of container transport services. This could lead to higher prices and reduced quality for Australian importers and exporters.
“Our review is focused on DP World Australia’s ability and incentive to either increase terminal fees or worsen the quality of terminal services for container transport providers that compete with Silk, after the acquisition.
“We are also assessing whether DP World Australia, after acquiring Silk, is likely to offer below-cost transportation prices to importers and exporters if their containers are also picked up and dropped off at DP World Australia’s stevedoring terminals. This is because a discounting strategy involving below-cost prices could reduce container transport competition allowing a combined DP World Australia and Silk to raise prices later.”
Furthermore, the ACCC is concerned that DP World Australia may be able to obtain and exploit commercially sensitive data about Silk Logistics’ competitors in a way that undermines competition.
In December 2024, Portchain announced the successful integration with DP World terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Fremantle.