CMA CGM doubles Chinese terminal investment with Tianjin venture

France's CMA CGM Group, as part of a three-party joint venture, today signed a 50-year concession agreement to build and operate a 1.7 million-TEU capacity container terminal in the Port of Tianjin in North China.

The new facility, which is expected to become operational in 2011, will feature a 1,100-meter quay and will be operated by a joint venture of CMA CGM (with a 20 percent stake); Tianjin Port Holding Co. (60 percent), a Tianjin Port Group subsidiary listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange; and Hong Kong-based Asia International Shipping Ltd. (20 percent).

The Tianjin terminal deal represents CMA CGM's 26th port terminal investment worldwide and second in China following a cooperation agreement signed last November for the development of the Xiamen port with Hong Kong-based infrastructure firm New World Services Holding Ltd. (NWS) and the municipality of Xiamen.

In 2006, the Marseilles-headquartered group also acquired an 8 percent share in China Rail Intermodal, a project to design, build and manage a network of 18 railway container stations covering the entire Chinese territory.

CMA CGM started calls at Tianjin some 10 years ago and last year had volumes there of 400,000 TEUs, an increase of 33 percent compared to 2006. The port's total volume for last year was about 7.1 million TEUs, up 19 percent over the previous year and enough to rank it as the world's 16th busiest container port. After five months of 2008 Tianjin's volumes were up 22 percent.

With this new investment, CMA CGM has secured a strategic base in Tianjin, which is the port offering the best prospects of growth in North China. This will further improve the quality of service offered to our vessels, and therefore to our customers,?said Farid Salem, CMA CGM's chief executive vice president.

CMA CGM said it has had a presence in China since 1992 and currently has 64 offices and offers 30 weekly services.