What the ACCC does

  • We track the prices, costs and profits of container stevedores in Australia.
  • We gather information from container stevedores and others working with the industry.
  • We report to the Minister each year on the container stevedoring industry.

What the ACCC can't do

  • We don’t regulate prices in the container freight industry.

On this page

About container stevedoring

Container stevedores are responsible for lifting containers on and off container ships.

Australia has benefited from container trade over the past 50 years. The use of containers has lowered the cost of transporting goods around the world. This has allowed many Australian businesses to take part in international trade.

As a key part of international trade, the container freight industry impacts the:

  • cost of imported goods sold in Australia
  • the competitiveness of Australian exports.

What we do in container stevedoring monitoring

The ACCC has a role in tracking Australia’s container freight industry. We:

  • track prices, costs and profits of container stevedores at major ports. These are Adelaide, Brisbane, Burnie (when operational), Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney ports.
  • gather information from others operating in the container freight industry
  • provide performance information on the industry to government and the community
  • write a Container stevedoring monitoring report to the Minister each year.

Container stevedoring monitoring reports

As part of our monitoring role, we publish a report each year.

Current monitoring report

Container stevedoring monitoring report 2022-23 cover

Container stevedoring monitoring report 2022-23

The 2022–23 Container stevedoring monitoring report presents information on the financial and operational performance of the monitored container stevedores. It also includes observations on key developments within the sector.

Previous monitoring reports

See Container stevedoring monitoring reports for a complete list of reports we have published.

The legal basis of our functions

Our functions come from a direction issued by the Treasurer under what is now Part VIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. This relates to price inquiries, notifications and monitoring.

See also

Global container trade disruptions leave Australian businesses vulnerable (media release)