FRENCH shipping giant cma CGM sees ownership of cargo terminals at US ports as the next step in a bid to extend its shipping business into the overland logistics space, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The Marseille-based carrier, the third largest, is buying and upgrading cargo-handling facilities at the two busiest west coast and east coast ports to speed cargo flow and make supply chains more efficient.
'Port terminals are an essential piece of the supply-chain efficiency, being at the crossroads of sea and land operations,' said CMA CGM vice president Christine Cabau Woehrel.
CMA CGM is one of several ocean carriers and freight forwarders buying up US companies with the huge profits earned during the shipping surge of the past two years.
CMA CGM earned US$17.9 billion in net profits in 2021 and its earnings in the first three quarters of this year reached more than $20.4 billion.
The carrier in January bought out a partner's 90 per cent stake in Fenix Marine Services, one of the largest terminals at the Port of Los Angeles with an enterprise value of $2.3 billion.
This month, the company said it is acquiring two terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey for an undisclosed sum.
Ms Cabau Woehrel said owning terminals on both coasts will help CMA CGM expand its transatlantic and transpacific cargo volumes and give the carrier more control over customers' freight flows.
The carrier may need to spend up to $1 billion upgrading the GCT Bayonne and GCT New York terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey so they can handle cargo surges, she said.
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The Marseille-based carrier, the third largest, is buying and upgrading cargo-handling facilities at the two busiest west coast and east coast ports to speed cargo flow and make supply chains more efficient.
'Port terminals are an essential piece of the supply-chain efficiency, being at the crossroads of sea and land operations,' said CMA CGM vice president Christine Cabau Woehrel.
CMA CGM is one of several ocean carriers and freight forwarders buying up US companies with the huge profits earned during the shipping surge of the past two years.
CMA CGM earned US$17.9 billion in net profits in 2021 and its earnings in the first three quarters of this year reached more than $20.4 billion.
The carrier in January bought out a partner's 90 per cent stake in Fenix Marine Services, one of the largest terminals at the Port of Los Angeles with an enterprise value of $2.3 billion.
This month, the company said it is acquiring two terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey for an undisclosed sum.
Ms Cabau Woehrel said owning terminals on both coasts will help CMA CGM expand its transatlantic and transpacific cargo volumes and give the carrier more control over customers' freight flows.
The carrier may need to spend up to $1 billion upgrading the GCT Bayonne and GCT New York terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey so they can handle cargo surges, she said.
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