DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5
Supply Chain

Shipping Firm CMA CGM To Cut Price For French Retailers

By Dayeeta Das
Share this article
Shipping Firm CMA CGM To Cut Price For French Retailers

Shipping firm CMA CGM will lower container shipping rates by about 10% for large retailers in France to support government steps to curb inflation, it said on Thursday.

The group, one of the world's largest container shipping lines, was singled out this week by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire along with energy giant TotalEnergies as among companies that should use bumper profits to help households cope with high inflation.

CMA CGM will from 1 August reduce shipping rates by €500 ($520) per 40-foot container for consumer products imported by major retail chains to mainland France, it said in a statement.

The measure, which will be applied for one year, represented a cut of nearly 10% in shipping rates, CMA CGM said, calling on retail chains to pass on the saving in store prices.

Container Rates

The shipping group also announced a €500 cut to 40-foot container rates for all imports to French overseas territories, amounting to a 10-20% rate cut depending on the destination.

ADVERTISEMENT

Faced with surging inflation, due in part to high energy prices, governments in countries like Britain have announced windfall taxes on oil and gas firms.

France has so far urged companies to take action while leaving the threat of a windfall tax on the table.

TotalEnergies on Thursday said it has increased a summer discount on French fuel prices by 2 cents.

Shipping firms like CMA CGM, which posted a net profit of $17.9 billion for 2021, have benefitted from high freight rates as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains and left shipping capacity stretched.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read More: Maersk Sees No Let Up In Surging Cost Of Shipping Goods

News by Reuters, edited by ESM – your source for the latest supply chain news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.