In light of the recent collapse of Hanjin Shipping, French carrier CMA CGM has announced that it will be eyeing opportunities for consolidation within the global shipping industry, according to Reuters.
Rodolphe Saadé, Vice Chairman of CMA CGM, said: “With the collapse of Hanjin, there will be a wave of consolidation in the sector and CMA CGM is on the look out for opportunities if they should arise.
“We think that small or medium sized operators are going to go bust or be forced to join large operators like us.”
This news follows previous Q2, 2016 results released by CMA CGM which stated that it had posted a loss of US$800 million in comparison to the same period a year prior.
However, the results were shown positively as the carrier announced its billion-dollar ‘Agility’ programme in a bid to cut costs.
Mr Saadé previously said of the programme: “We are working to improve operating performance, notably via the launch of the Agility plan, which includes a programme to reduce costs by $1 billion over the next 18 months, and in addition to the post-acquisition synergies with NOL.”
Together with these synergies comes the recent announcement that former general manager at China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) is confirmed to be heading the merger of former NOL subsidiary APL’s Greater China Operations to CMA CGM.
