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With the commissioning of Container Terminal 4 at Mundra Port, CMA CGM Group makes its maiden foray into container terminal operation in India and aims to expand its presence in India, while with the addition of the new facility APSEZ further strengthens its position in container operation not only in India but also becomes an influential port operator in the sub-continent
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and CMA CGM on April 25 announced commissioning of their new container terminal, Adani CMA Mundra Terminal Private Limited (ACMTPL). Notably, a joint venture agreement for a strategic collaboration between APSEZ and CMA Terminals (CMAT) was signed in July 2014. Karan Adani, CEO, APSEZ and Rodolphe Saadé, CEO, CMA CGM Group signed a formal agreement at an event in Mumbai to jointly operate the new container terminal.
for the company to operationalize the JV terminal. Following the commissioning of the new terminal, Mundra has become the largest container terminal port in India, with a capacity to handle 5.5 million teus.”
APSEZ is looking forward to a stronger relation with CMA CGM beyond Mundra, and in future they are looking forward to strengthen ties to serve the entire coastline of India and also in logistics sector as well, he added.
The new container terminal is commissioned three months ahead of schedule and it will be capable of handling the world’s largest container ships. For CMA CGM, ACMTPL is its first port investment in India, and hints at its ambition to further increase presence in the strategic and fastdeveloping country.
Rodolphe Saadé who recently took over reigns of the French container shipping major said, “Vision for the company is to stay profitable along with improving relationship with customers. The company will continue to focus on bringing products and services to the preference of customers. CMA CGM looks to increase its presence across the globe, and it is one of the reasons for his visit to India, and a strong presence in India will help the company to achieve the goal.”
In his maiden visit to India, Rodolphe Saadé, CEO, CMA CGM Group said that he is impressed about the developments taking place in Indian market. “India has a great potential, and we look forward to the partnership with Adani Group. The JV is very important to us and it shows our willingness to develop cooperation in India for building stateof- the-art terminal. India is becoming a very important place for CMA CGM. There are about 12,000 people working for us in India. We have vessel calls to different Indian ports and looking forward to strengthen our presence in the country. We believe in development of India and see great potential in this market.”
While Saadé sounded optimistic about the potential of Indian market, but he also cautioned that there are issues and one needs to be patient with Indian market. However, the companies will continue to focus on India as it aims to take a strategic position to grow the group’s presence in India.
Saadé said, “One of his priorities for CMA CGM is gaining presence in digital business. Digital-enabled trade will change the way business is done in the future, and it can make a lot of difference in client communication and relation. Hence, the company is working in this direction to develop new technologies to serve clients better.”
Talking about challenges, Saadé said that retaining good manpower is important for the company. He stressed that the company will invest in training and skill development of its workforce to offset any challenges in the future.
Explaining plans to start new services in India, Saadé said, “The company is looking forward to increase its presence in India and will start implementing new projects in the next couple of months. The company is also considering to start new service to India in July.” He said that 2016 was a difficult year for the trade, however market conditions have improved in the current year and the company looks to take advantage of it. While appreciating direct port delivery initiatives by the government, Saadé said during his visit to JN Port he found the CFS and warehouses impressive and stressed that the company also aims to increase presence in CFS space across the country. Customers are now keen on end-to-end solutions, hence the company will focus on offering logistic solutions, he added.
Saadé mentioned, following the success of Mundra terminal, the company will also look at increasing its presence at other locations in India. He said that the acquisition of APL few months ago has helped CMA CGM to secure market share in India and other parts of the world. He highlighted that recently the company has inked a major co-operation with Asian carriers of Ocean Alliance which will allow to offer competitive service on East-West trade route.
Talking about priorities for APSEZ, Karan Adani said that “Building the right team of professionals was an important focus area for him. He also expressed his intension of extending the footprint of Adani Ports beyond the Indian shores, and to develop the company as a formidable player in the region with presence in Africa and Bay of Bengal. The focus will be on last mile connectivity to maintain profitability and differentiate itself from competition. In this direction the port company will work towards strengthening its position in end-toend logistics and at all the verticals where it has a presence. Apart from this, the company will invest in best-in-class technology to benchmark in terms of operations and cost efficiency, and customer experience.”
Elaborating on expansion plans on the East Coast, he said, “Two new berths are being added at Dhamra Port, of which one berth is already commissioned and fourth one will be commissioned soon. The focus is on bulk cargo at Dhamra since it had registered a surge in this segment.”
Notably, APSEZ continues to expand its container terminals footprint across India’s coastline and further augments existing three container handling facilities at Mundra, Hazira and Kattupalli, an under construction transhipment hub in Vizinjham in Kerala and two other under construction terminals at Ennore and Dhamra.
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