FRENCH ocean carrier CMA CGM is freezing all spot-rate increases until February 1.
In a statement, the company said the measure, effective immediately, is to prioritise CMA CGM’s long-term relationships with customers in the face of an unprecedented situation in the shipping industry.
“Since the beginning of 2021, container shipping spot freight rates have continued to rise due to port congestion and the major imbalance between demand and maritime container transport effective capacity,” the company said.
“Although these market-driven rate increases are expected to continue in the coming months, the Group has decided to put any further increases in spot freight rates on hold for all services operated under its brands (CMA CGM, CNC, Containerships, Mercosul, ANL, APL).”
The company also said it had been investing to strengthen its service offering. It has increased the capacity of its operated fleet by 11% since the beginning of 2020 through the addition of new vessels and the purchase of second-hand vessels.
CMA CGM, like other major ocean carriers, has seen tremendous increases in revenue and profits over the past year and a half.
The company’s financial results for the first half of the 2021 calendar year revealed revenues of US$23.1 billion, up 63% on the first half of 2020’s revenue of US$14.2 billion. Profits for the first six months of 2021 also skyrocketed to US$5.6 billion, up from US$195 million in the same period last year.
CMA CGM is currently the world’s third biggest ocean carrier by TEU capacity, according to data from Alphaliner. The company’s operated fleet capacity comes to just more than 3 million TEU, or 12.2% of total global capacity.
Almost 60% (by TEU capacity) of its fleet is chartered: 389 vessels with a combined capacity of 1.8 million TEU.
CMA CGM has 44 vessels on order, with a capacity of 525,452 TEU, or 17.4% of its extant capacity.
