Teo Siong Seng won’t seek re-election as SBF chairman, takes leaves of absence from PIL, NUS

SINGAPORE – Shipping mogul Teo Siong Seng will take further leaves of absence, which will now extend to his roles at Pacific International Lines (PIL) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), as he deals with accusations of price fixing by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

The 71-year-old is executive chairman of PIL and one of 10 directors at the shipping firm, having taken over from his father – the late shipping tycoon Chang Yun Chung – on April 1, 2018.

His leave of absence from the company will be effective from June 8, he said in a statement on May 28.

He will also be taking leave of absence from his duties as a pro-chancellor at NUS from June 1.

This comes after news on May 22 that he will take time away from his role as chairman of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and other related appointments.

These include being on the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, as well as being on the board of trade agency Enterprise Singapore.

In his first public statement since the US unsealed an indictment on May 19, which named him and six other shipping executives for allegedly colluding to fix the prices of dry containers, Mr Teo said: “I have proactively decided to take these leaves of absence to afford myself sufficient time to attend to this matter, and for the best interests of the aforementioned organisations.”

He added that he does not plan to seek re-election once his term as SBF chairman ends on June 24.

He had been elected to the role on May 20, 2025, after then chairman Lim Ming Yan ended his term early and stepped down to focus on his appointment as chairman of Changi Airport Group.

Mr Teo chaired the SBF from 2014 to 2020, serving three consecutive two-year terms.

The apex business chamber’s vice-chairman and honorary treasurer, Mr Mark Lee, will be taking over Mr Teo’s duties as chairman.

In response to queries, an NUS spokeswoman said Mr Teo’s duties as pro-chancellor will be covered by other members of the Chancellery.

NUS’ website lists four other pro-chancellors, who are responsible for undertaking duties delegated by the chancellor, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. This can include presiding at the university’s annual convocation ceremonies.

According to the DOJ, the suspected scheme involved restricting the production of dry shipping containers, which artificially inflated their prices.

In doing so, the prices of these containers were said to have roughly doubled between 2019 and 2021, with four of the world’s largest container manufacturers increasing their profits almost a hundred times.

One of the firms accused of being part of the suspected scheme is Singamas Container Holdings, where Mr Teo is chief executive.

Based on Singamas’ 2025 annual financial report, PIL is the beneficial owner of the company, holding 41.72 per cent of its shares as at Dec 31, 2025.

In a May 20 filing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Singamas said neither the company nor Mr Teo had been served with any legal process or other legal documentation by the DOJ.

The other three companies that were named as being part of the suspected price-fixing scheme are China International Marine Containers (CIMC), CXIC Group Containers and Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment.

Seven people, including Mr Teo, were named in the May 19 US indictment.

One of them, Chinese national Vick Ma, marketing director of Singamas, was arrested in France on April 14 just as he was about to take a flight to Hong Kong.

The others are Mr Mai Boliang, president and chief executive of CIMC before becoming its chairman in August 2020; Mr Huang Tianhua, vice-president of CIMC; Mr Wan Yongbo, general manager of CIMC’s operation management centre; Mr Li Qianmin, general manager of Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment; and CXIC Group Containers chief executive Zhang Yuqiang. All are Chinese nationals.

The Straits Times has contacted PIL for more information.