CMA CGM SA has agreed to buy two major US shipping terminals owned by Global Container Terminals Inc to bolster the French logistics company’s presence in the country.

The acquisition gives CMA CGM a gateway on the US east coast and strengthens its position as global port terminal operator, the company said Tuesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. Financial details for the transaction to buy the terminals in the state of New York and New Jersey weren’t disclosed.

AD Ports Group has signed a contract with China Harbour Engineering Company for the development of buildings and topside infrastructure for the cutting-edge CMA Terminals Khalifa Port, a joint venture owned by CMA CGM’s subsidiary CMA Terminals (70% stake) and AD Ports Group (30%t stake).

The agreement includes the development of the first net zero carbon administration building to be constructed for the joint venture, which is being developed in-line with the company’s role as an official partner of World Green Building Council’s Middle East & North Africa Regional Network. The award-winning administration building, which won the Net Zero Design Building Project of the Year in October, will be a highly energy efficient building that is powered from renewable energy sources and offsets.

In addition, the agreement will see the development of 28 office and utilities across the terminal, more than one million square metres of yard paving, reefer stacks, STS cranes and access roads.

Ocean shipping rates for goods leaving China are likely to fall next year when new container vessels take to the seas, according to carriers at a major trade fair in Shanghai.

Freight rates have plunged by as much as 90 per cent in the last year from the unprecedented highs they enjoyed during the pandemic, and are expected to stabilise in the short term.

More than 200 new ships are due to be delivered to freight operators in each of the next two years. Vessels with a total capacity of 2.34 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) will be delivered in 2023, and another 2.83 million TEUs will be added in 2024.

That compares with 1.1 million TEUs this year.

“The shipping industry is wary of a further drop [in shipping rates],” said Kevin Gao, senior sales manager with Hapag-Lloyd (China) Shipping, an exhibitor at the China International Import Expo (CIIE). “Delivery of new vessels will probably exacerbate an overcapacity issue.”

According to Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IFW) expert, Vincent Stamer, more than 2% of the global freight capacity remains at a standstill in Europe’s North Sea, putting European ports in a “very unusual” situation.

The global supply chain disruptions seem to be dragging far longer than expected, with shipping container shortages and sea ports’ bottlenecks spreading beyond Chinese hubs.

The pandemic and later repercussions have largely impacted the global supply chain and associated sectors, with snowballing logjams at major seaports and corresponding workforce and shipping container shortages driving record hikes in ocean freight rates and lengthy shipping delays across the world.

Over recent months, the global supply chain was subject to yet another crippling wave of disruptions, fuelled by China’s zero-COVID strategy and the lockdown in the country’s largest port, the Port of Shanghai, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent upsurge in fuel prices, which hindered the flow of goods and instigated a series of cost increases and product shortages.

The Saudi supply chain initiative will leverage the kingdom’s resources, infrastructure, and location to bring greater resilience to economies and companies across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, while further enhancing Saudi Arabia’s position in the global economy.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched on Sunday the Global Supply Chain Resilience Initiative to attract $10.64 billion (SAR 40 billion) investments to the kingdom’s supply chain sector, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 programme objectives to position the country as a leading logistics and supply chain hub.