CMA CGM will arrange its fleet and Ocean Alliance services to ensure it does not have to pay the recently revised Chinese tonnage tax plan that, for some carriers, could add $1 million per voyage calling at US ports, said CFO Ramon Fernandez.

Fernandez told reporters Friday that less than half the CMA CGM fleet of 680 ships were built in China, which enables the carrier to avoid the tonnage tax to be imposed from Oct. 14.

“If Chinese-built vessels have to pay a fee, we will make sure that this will not happen to us,”he said in a press conference to announce CMA CGM's first-quarter results.

Asked if CMA CGM would shoulder the load of US services in the Ocean Alliance, Fernandez only said,“We have plenty of vessels which have not been built in China, so we can make sure that these vessels will be reaching US ports.”

The US Trade Representative in April narrowed the scope of its tariffs against China's maritime industry to a fee based on the cargo capacity or container volume of Chinese-operated and -built ships entering US ports. The more targeted actions follow industry warnings that earlier proposals would increase costs for US shippers and pose an existential threat to smaller ports. CMA CGM's Ocean Alliance partners Cosco and OOCL face tariffs more than twice as large as their peers.

Shipping operations drive Q1 results

CMA CGM's solid first quarter followed the industry trend. Revenue in the first quarter reached $13.3 billion, up 12.1% year over year, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 29.1% to $3.1 billion. The group's net profit of $1.1 billion was up 42% compared to the first three months of last year.

The earnings were driven by an increase in volume that was up 4.2% in the first quarter at 5.8 million TEUs and supported by average revenue per TEU of $1,498 that was up 7.1% year over year.

Consolidated revenue from maritime shipping operations of $8.8 billion in the first quarter increased 11.5%, while the shipping division's EBITDA of $2.5 billion was 30.0% higher than in the first quarter of 2024.

The group's logistics activities under CEVA Logistics continued to grow, boosted by the consolidation of Bolloré Logistics in February last year and good momentum in contract logistics, although the finished vehicle logistics and road haulage segments faced market challenges, mostly in Europe.

Revenue from logistics, at $4.3 billion in the first quarter, was up 10% year over year, while EBITDA grew 10.5% to $399 million.

CMA CGM Air Cargo is grouped in the“other activities”section along with the group's port terminals and CMA Media. Revenue in this section rose 31% year over year in the first quarter to $899 million while EBITDA was up 91.5% at $157 million, thanks to strong performances in terminals and air cargo.

CMA CGM also announced a €100 million ($112 million) investment in a strategic partnership with Mistral AI, a French AI startup headquartered in Paris. The partnership aims to develop bespoke AI solutions for the maritime, logistics and media sectors by mobilizing Mistral AI teams alongside CMA CGM teams, according to a company statement.