CMA CGM Group, the third largest container company in the world, plays a pivotal role in the global trade. This French company serves 420 of the world’s 521 commercial ports and operates 285 shipping lines with a presence in 160 countries through 755 offices, 750 warehouses, 110,000 employees and a wide fleet of 566 vessels.

The name is an acronym of two predecessor companies, Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM), which translate as "Maritime Freighting Company" and "General Maritime Company".

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CMA CGM - Company history

CMA CGM's history can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century when two major French shipping lines were established, Messageries Maritimes (MM) in 1851 and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) in 1855. Both companies were founded in part with the assistance of the French government through the awarding of mail contracts to various companies.

The French government progressively merged the two companies between 1974 and 1977 to form Compagnie Générale Maritime(CGM).

Separately, in 1978, Jacques Saadé founded Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) as an intra-Mediterranean liner service operator based in Marseille. In 1996, CGM was privatized and sold to CMA to form CMA CGM.

From 1996 to 2019 was an era of relentless global expansion for CMA CGM Group.

CMA CGM Subsidiaries

Maritime activities

· Australian National Line (ANL) (specializes in Australia, New Zealand, Oceania and Asia container transportation)

· Compagnie Maroccaine de Navigation (Comanav) (passenger ferry and container services from Morocco to Europe)

· Cheng Lie Navigation Corp. (CNC Line) (specializes in Intra-Asia container transportation)

· Mercosul Line (specializes on the East Coast of South America container transportation)

· Containerships (specializes in Intra-European container transportation)

· American President Lines (APL) (Singapore-based container line)

Terminal activities

· Terminal Link - container terminals developer and operator, ranked N°12 worldwide

· CMA Terminals Holding

Intermodal activities and logistics

· Progeco (container: sales, leasing & repairing)

· CMA CGM Logistics

· Rail Link (multimodal rail-bound transport solutions)

· River Shuttle Containers (Rhône – Saône axis containerised river transportation)

Support activities

· CMA Ships (a wholly-owned subsidiary managing all fleet-related operations)

Air services

       · AIR CARGO SERVICES, active since February 2021, operates a total of 4 A330-200F. The operations of the aircraft are handled by Air Belgium.

CMA CGM Business in China

Jacques Saadé was a forerunner. He anticipated that Asia would become a major freight driver, and in 1986, he announced that the company would expand its North-Europe-Red Sealine into Asia. 

That same year, CMA established offices in Hong Kong and Manilla,  located just outside of China. In 1987, he established a trade cooperation agreement with other major companies in the Red Sea Express, and CMA quickly became one of the industry's most well-known and well-respected players.

In 1992, Jacques Saadé set up the first office in Shanghai to pick up merchandise at the source. It marked the end of a 6-year project to expand in Asia and start a new adventure. Today, the CMA CGM group employs 2000 agents across China through 63 agencies.

Final Words

CMA CGM Group, the shipping giant, announced on Sept-9th,2021 that it would suspend all spot rate increases until February 1st, 2022. This superising move has received mixed reactions from the forwarders. However, we must admit that CMA CGM is a very successful and forward-thinking shipping company.