News / CMA CGM links with Saigon operator to build box terminal at Haiphong

CMA CGM has partnered with Vietnamese port operator Saigon Newport (SNP) in a $600m investment to develop a new deepsea terminal in Haiphong, as the country looks to navigate the awkward position it now finds itself in between China and the US.

Billed as the Lach Huyen terminals 7&8, the new gateway is expected to open in 2028, offering capacity of 1.9m teu.

A CMA CGM spokesperson said: “The project is designed to meet the sharp increase in container volumes in northern Vietnam – one of South-east Asia’s fastest-growing economic zones.

“This partnership will enable CMA CGM to secure long-term capacity in a region that has become central to Asian supply chains due to its rapid industrial and logistics development.”

Having launched operations in Vietnam in 1989, the investment builds on CMA CGM’s ownership of the Gemalink terminal in Cai Mep and the Vietnam International Container Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City. It also provides connections to the country with 29 weekly services calling at seven ports.

But the announcement comes in a moment of uncertainty for the country; while benefiting from the 90-day tariff reprieve offered by Donald Trump, Vietnam is facing a 46% US tariff on goods due to it being perceived as China’s transhipment hub.

Indeed, during negotiations between Hanoi and Washington, Mr Trump’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing, Pete Navarro, recently described Vietnam as a Chinese colony.

That claim followed the success experienced by Vietnam in the early weeks of Mr Trump’s second term when its imports from China ballooned by $15bn, while its concurrent level of exports to the US hit $12bn, with shippers moving goods into Vietnam ahead of looming tariffs.

Indeed, it is not hard to pinpoint Vietnam’s success: in 2017 its trade surplus with the US was reported by the New York Times to be $38.3bn, trebling to more than $123bn by last year.

And the Trump administration has made clear that any deal it does strike with its opposite numbers in Hanoi will be dependent on proof that they are actively engaged in tackling this flow of Chinese goods.

Forwarders have repeatedly described Vietnam as one of the best bets for a China+1, but if it loses those huge volumes from China, question marks surround its future.