News / Despite sourcing shifts, 'don't write-off China', says CMA CGM CCO

Computer render of CMA CGM methanol vessel. Credit Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries

China cannot be written off completely from supply chains, despite tension with the US and manufacturing shifts towards South-east Asia, according to CMA CGM’s chief commercial officer, Vikash Anand.

At the Sea Asia conference in Singapore today, Mr Vikash said: “If you look at the absolute terms of its (China’s) economy, it’s still positive. These shifts are really diversification more than anything else. Whether 10 years later, it’ll be different, we can’t say. But as of now, it’s ‘China plus many’.”

Changing supply chain dynamics is fuelling intra-regional container shipping, particularly the intra-Asia segment, and Mr Vikash said that post-panamax ships, once the traditional workhorses of the transpacific and Asia-Europe lanes, were “now serving intra-regional routes, which have gained a critical mass”.

CMA CGM’s observation is that more cargo is moving within Asia and then onto long-haul voyages.

Mr Vikash said: “There’s more business than in the past (for the same goods being produced). Intra-Asia trades won’t substitute for the long-haul, but complement it.”

He also touched on the French group’s plan to invest $20bn in maritime transport, logistics, and supply chains in the US over the next four years – a move widely seen by the market, although not confirmed by the line, as CMA CGM’s attempt to avoid hefty port fees that President Donald Trump wants to impose on shipping companies with Chinese-built ships.

Mr Vikash said: “Our exposure (in terms of Chinese-built ships) isn’t unmanageable. In the alliances context today, everyone will be impacted to some extent, no one is immune to the situation. For CMA CGM, we remain agile in redeploying our ships to mitigate impacts from the rules and regulations.”

He described CMA CGM’s investment, covering ship building, port infrastructure, a research hub in Boston, and an air hub in Chicago, as “a wide-ranging approach to building relationships” and growing the carrier’s presence in the US.

He added: “We have a US-flagged banner under [subsidiary] APL. There are ways and means to mitigate the issues. The key is to be agile and redeploy our assets.”