CMA CGM: APL gains ‘new momentum’

French ocean carrier CMA CGM said APL has improved its performance in the first three months under the ownership of CMA CGM, despite a challenging market.    French ocean carrier CMA CGM said that APL, which it acquired earlier this year when it purchased Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines, has regained “new momentum.”
   CMA CGM is maintaining APL as a distinct brand. APL’s performance has improved in the first three months under the ownership of CMA CGM Group, despite a challenging market, CMA CGM said.
   APL’s volumes in the third quarter of this year totaled 1.3 million TEUs, which CMA CGM said was 9.9 percent higher than in the same 2015 quarter.
   “This organic growth was driven by more than 20 co-operations on new and enhanced services with CMA CGM,” the company said.
   CMA CGM gave the following examples:
     • On the Latin American trade, APL now offers its customers direct access to the Caribbean through slot swaps on the Asian Caribbean Express (ACE) service;
     • On the transpacific trade, where it has a leading position, APL has taken over the management of the U.S. Lines business, another subsidiary within the CMA CGM Group, and as a result, has increased its book of business by over 10 percent;
     • On the Asia-Europe trade, APL re-entered the direct India-Northern Europe trade through the India Pakistan Europe (IPE) service;
     • And on the transatlantic trade, APL now has access to the West Mediterranean to/from the U.S. East Coast market through the West-Med Service (WMS).
   CMA CGM said APL’s operating margin improved by 40.2 percent per FEU from the same period in the previous year and that APL’s costs per FEU decreased by 15.7 percent year-over-year.
   “This reflects the progress made in APL’s continuous cost savings efforts, as well as the significant operational synergies gained through its new parent company. In the last three months alone, 19 vessels have been cross-chartered between APL and CMA CGM to maximize utilization. In addition, more than 6,000 TEUs of containers have been exchanged to save costs,” CMA CGM said.
   It also said cooperation between APL and CMA CGM has delivered “joint procurement synergies and cost savings in wide-ranging areas, including terminal charges, ship management, equipment logistics as well as intermodal and vessel feeder services.”
   In addition, CMA CGM said it “is delivering on its commitment to enhance Singapore’s position as a key maritime hub and grow Singapore’s container throughput volumes through its joint venture with PSA Singapore Terminals.”
   The CMA CGM-PSA Lion Terminal started operations on July 22 with two berths and a capacity of 2 million TEUs, with the aim of growing to four berths in January 2017.
   CMA CGM also moved its regional head office from Hong Kong to Singapore where APL is based in July 2016.