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CMA CGM has again surpassed its ocean carrier rivals posting a net profit of $7.2bn for the first quarter, and said that it remained confident about its financial performance for the full-year.

Group chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said that the French logistics group would remain “mobilised” to meet the supply chain challenges faced by its customers.

“We are also vigilant in the face of the risk of a deterioration in the global economic situation, linked to the pandemic, the rise in inflation and the war in Ukraine,” he said.

Indeed, CMA CGM warned of medium and longer-term uncertainty for global trade as a consequence of the sharp rise in energy prices and raw material price inflation, which it said could have a negative impact on retail consumption.

Group turnover in Q1 was up 70% on the same quarter of the year before at $18.2bn, while revenue from its liner business increased by 73% to $14.8bn.

CMA CGM transported 2.8% less volume on its ships than the year before, which it said had been, “constrained by port and inland congestion”, at 5.3m teu.

The carrier achieved an average rate of $2,792 per teu across its network, which was on a par with Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL, but ahead of Maersk’s average of $2,276 per teu.

The company said that operating costs increased by 16%, compared with the same period of the year before, due in particular to vessel chartering costs and a 46% hike in bunker costs.

Logistics revenue from its forwarding arm CEVA contributed $3.4bn, which represented an increase of 57% on the year before, for an ebitda of $250m compared with $172m previously.

“Contractual logistics activities continued their turnaround despite the inflationary context that weighed on operations and profitability,” said CMA CGM.

It said that the group was “stepping up” its investments to support its growth strategy including adding 95,000 containers to its equipment fleet, and the acquisition of a further 14 second-hand vessels during the first quarter.

CMA CGM also added three new 15,000 teu owned ships and five new 15,000 teu chartered vessels to its fleet in Q1.

According to Alphaliner data, the carrier’s current operating fleet is 581 vessels, for a capacity of 3.3m teu, and after retaking the third-ranked capacity position back from Cosco it is now pulling away from the Chinese carrier’s 2.9m teu capacity.

Moreover, CMA CGM has an orderbook of 69 ships for 654,000 teu, versus the Cosco group’s 34 vessels for 586,000 teu.

CMA CGM’s orderbook includes six 15,000 teu dual-fuel methanol-powered vessels that it expects will join the fleet by the end of 2025.

“This first order for methanol-powered vessels is in line with CMA CGM’s strategy to expand its energy mix with the goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2050,” said the company.

Having pioneered the switch to LNG-fuelled vessels CMA CGM’s LNG-powered fleet in service now stands at 29 vessels and will have expanded to 77 ships by 2026.

It said the engines installed on these existing vessels are compatible with BioLNG, or synthetic methane and thus describes them as “e-methane ready”.

“The two sectors will be complementary for decarbonising the shipping industry in the years to come,” claimed CMA CGM.

Source: The LoadStar

Ocean carriers are focusing their transpacific growth on US east coast port services, as the import coastal shift from the west coast continues.

According to Alphaliner, the Ocean Alliance (OA) partners will officially commence their eighth Asia-US east coast loop with the sailing of the 11,356 teu CMA CGM Callisto from Yantian, China, on 9 May.

The consultant said the new loop, going via the Panama Canal, would deploy ten 10,000-11,400 teu vessels calling at Yantian, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan, Norfolk, Savannah, Charleston, Miami and back to Yantian, turning in 10 weeks.

The loop was announced in the OA’s Day 6 product annual network revamp in January, but the service, as the Chesapeake Bay Express (CBX) with different rotations, has been operated independently by CMA CGM on an ad-hoc basis.

OA member Evergreen has confirmed it will use the CBX label for the service, while Cosco and OOCL will market it under their AWE7 and ECC3 brands, respectively.

However, business intelligence platform eeSea said it had “discovered” the CMA CGM-operated CBX service “during a routine check”, adding: “Ports of call on vessel schedules vary with each rotation and none match the flyer.”

According to eeSea data, CMA CGM has been operating the weekly loop with only six vessels, resulting in a number of blank sailings and the ad-hoc nature of the service.

Meanwhile, according to the latest container volume McCown Report, covering the top 10 US ports for March and the first quarter, the coastal shift continues apace, with the growth of import volumes at east coast and Gulf ports outperforming throughput growth at west coast hubs for the 10th consecutive month.

For the three-month period, east coast and Gulf ports recorded year-on-year import volume growth of 12.8%, to 3,136,780 teu, whereas west coast ports saw only a modest 1.8% increase, to 3,152,964 teu.

In terms of volumes, the biggest east coast winner was the port of New York & New Jersey, which saw import containers surge 11.8% during the quarter, to 1,228,373 teu, propelling it above Long Beach to become the nation’s second-largest port for container imports, behind Los Angeles.

The report’s author John McCown said the stronger performance by east coast ports was driven by three main factors. First was the initial pandemic surge of volumes that had “disproportionately benefited the west coast ports and that is impacting current comparisons”.

The second reason was that shippers had changed their routings for containers to avoid the chronic delays to product shipped via the west coast, with ships obliged to wait off the San Pedro Bay coast for weeks to get worked.

And the third reason, said Mr McCown, was the reduced line haul costs for east coast calling ships compared with cross-country intermodal services via the west coast.

Source: The LoadStar

The major European shipping line CMA CGM has published that it will apply new Peak Season Surcharges (PSS) in several ports globally.

Particularly, the French carrier will implement a PSS of US$587 per TEU and US$1,175 per FEU for dry and reefer containers, from Italy to the South American ports of Guyana and Surinam. The surcharges will be applicable from 1 September.

Furthermore, another PSS of the same price and for the same type of cargo will be introduced on 23 September for sailings from Italy to North Brasil.

In addition, CMA CGM will push up its rates from Europe to several destinations in America. More specifically, there will be a PSS of US$470 per dry and reefer container from North Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea ports, to Trinidad, Guyana, Windwards and Leewards (except France).

With the same place of origin, CMA CGM will set a PSS of US$235 per dry and reefer unit for Surinam destinations. Both surcharges will be effective from 7 September.

Meanwhile, the Marseille-based liner operator has introduced a PSS of US$200 per standard 20′ container, and US$600 per standard and High Cube 40′ box from the port of Mozambique, Maputo to all destinations across the world.

The main date of application is 15 August but the surcharge will start on 1 September for shipments to Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago and St Lucia, and on 15 September for shipments to the US and its territories, and Latin America ports in Brasil, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and Panama.

However, CMA CGM has noted that the PSS from Maputo to East Russia will be US$2,000 per unit.

Source: Container News

The French shipping company CMA CGM has published new rate increases for reefer containers across the world.

Firstly, CMA CGM has already set a Port Congestion Surcharge (PCS) of US$1,000 per reefer cargo, since 5 August, to Manila of Philipinnes, from all ports except North East Asia, South East Asia, China, and Hong Kong & Macau special administrative regions (SAR).

Although the PSC has already started for most of the sailings, the surcharge for the US and its territories, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Uruguay and Paraguay will be effective from 5 September, and for ports of St Lucia, Trinidad, Tobago, Suriname and Guyana, the PSC will take effect on 21 September.

Additionally, the Marseille-based carrier will impose a Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) of US$1,500 per reefer container from India with destination to North Europe, Scandinavia, Poland, Baltic, Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Sea, North Africa and Morocco, that will start on 16 August.

Last but not least, CMA CGM will apply another PSS of US$750 per 20′ and US$1,500 per 40′ and high cube refrigerated containers, from North Europe and the French ports of Le Havre and Fos to Australia. This rate increase will be applicable from 9 September.

Source: Container News