The CMA CGM Group has announced that it is setting up a new multi-temperature logistics facility at DP World London Gateway so it can venture into providing a comprehensive logistics service that includes last-mile delivery.
With a planned area of 107,155 square foot, the cold storage facility located at DP World London Gateway Logistics Park will provide the third largest container shipping company’s service with the space it needs for a one-stop-shop logistics solution.
CMA CGM has taken out a long-term lease on the site as part of a strategy to increase product speed-to-market and reduce haulier mileage.
As the second largest carrier of reefer containers — used for transporting refrigerated goods, CMA CGM aims to increase volumes by tying its service to DP World London Gateway’s ability to deliver time and cost savings, as well as reduce waste and carbon.
The carrier’s warehouse product management will extend further by providing quality control for products, as well as the packing, sorting, labelling, palletisation and bagging.
CMA CGM will also offer more complicated services such as shunting — transferring products from the quay to the warehouse, customs clearance and delivery transportation.
To do this, the facility will feature IT traceability and management systems.
CMA CGM's service expansion move is similar to the strategy of its competitor carrier Maersk.
Its CEO, Søren Skou, recently stated that the world's largest container shipping company aims to become a global integrator of container logistics by extending its service into delivering goods like that of FedEx or UPS.
Construction on CMA CGM's new site will begin later in 2018, with operations on the one-hectare facility starting in early summer 2019.
The building, located within a 2.4-hectare logistics plot development on the River Thames, is close to main road access into the London area.
CMA CGM will occupy the facility through its international freight forwarding and logistics solutions subsidiary.
The carrier will use its unique cold store to handle a large variety of temperature-controlled products in chilled and frozen chambers.
CMA CGM is currently bringing cargo through DP World London Gateway Port on seven services.
Read 'Everything You Should Know About Reefer Shipping' to learn more about the development of the refrigerated transportation industry
Read 'The Future is Here: Cargo Handling for Mega-Ships', a technical paper by CMA CGM, to learn about the company's achievements in the Trans-Pacific trade lane
This includes large numbers of refrigerated containers arriving from the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, India and South America.
In the last two months, CMA CGM has consolidated much of its UK-bound temperature-controlled cargo, originating in the Southern Hemisphere, to come through DP World London Gateway Port.
The port, which is among the fastest growing in the world, is handling large numbers of refrigerated containers arriving from all over the world.
It uses more than 1600 ‘reefer’ points, a weather-resilient, automated container stacking system, custom-built inspection facilities and a service for shunting containers between the port and its neighbouring Logistics Park.
Alexis Michel, CMA CGM Group Senior Vice President Inland Activities, said: “This is an important step forward for CMA CGM and we’re looking forward to adding even greater value to the operations of our customers through the development of this facility.
“Drawing on the logistics expertise that exists within the CMA CGM Group, we’ll be able to offer our customers a unique range of value-added services and make sure their goods receive the best care all along their journey with CMA CGM and until they reach their final destination.
“This is also a significant step up in our partnership with DP World, showing that ports, shipping lines, logistics companies and industrial zones can work collaboratively to deliver value for cargo owners shipping into and out of the UK.
“With the construction of this facility, CMA CGM reaffirms its commitment to its customers by placing their needs at the centre of the Group’s development.”
Chris Lewis, Chief Executive Officer, DP World UK, said: “We’re delighted that the CMA CGM Group is establishing a temperature-controlled warehouse & logistics services on DP World London Gateway’s Logistics Park.
“The group is already bringing a significant amount of cargo through the port and this is an exciting next step in the product and service CMA CGM can offer its customers. We’re proud to have worked with such a key customer on a project which will without doubt increase supply chain efficiencies and add value.
“Our combination of a reliable, efficient port, with its international rail terminal and Authorised Economic Operator status – all plugged into a network which links more than 100 ports in 60 countries all over the world – on the same site as a flexible, scalable Logistics Park, enables logistics providers to bring different parts of the supply chain into one location; a location which sits just 25 miles from Central London, the largest consumer market in Western Europe.”
