Page 43: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q1 2013)

2011, reducing and better managing the or- derbook (now just 15 ships), selling vessels, cutting costs, controlling charter costs and entering into deeper strategic partnerships with Maersk and MSC.Lars Jensen of SeaIntel said the Maersk and MSC partnerships made a signiÞ cant contribution to the lineÕs turnaround, as Òthat has indeed allowed them access to the lower unit costs of large vessels on some of the main trades.Ó Separately, an Alphaliner re- port said the superior performance of CMA CGM and Maersk were more closely re-lated to their trade mix. ÒCompared to their competitors, both carriers have a large share of volumes on the Asia-Europe and Latin America trades, which have performed bet- ter than other trade lanes during the third quarter,Ó the report stated. DrewryÕs senior manager of equity re- search Rahul Kapoor said CMA CGMÕs bet- ter than market expectations performance in 2012 was primarily driven by a strong re- covery in freight rates in its core trade lanes, volume gains and achieved cost efÞ ciencies. ÒAlong with recovery in freight rates, the positive tailwinds from declining ß eet wide bunker consumption due to further slow steaming and tighter cost controls including network optimization and reduction in char- tering costs paved way for much improved operating performance,Ó Kapoor said. Analyzing the last reported third quar- ter numbers, Kapoor said the French line had already achieved $550 million in cost savings for the Þ rst three quarters of 2012, surpassing an initial full year FY12 savings target of $400 million. ÒCompany operating expenses suggest higher cost efÞ ciencies were gained from lower bunker and charter- ing costs,Ó he said. Achieving success in a down market is in- deed possible, and the carrier has managed to Þ ght its way out of a tight corner. The series of measures CMA CGM was forced to implement over the last three years may have diluted the Saade family share of the business, but they have left the carrier execu- tives wiser and the line in a better position to capitalize when general rates increases are successfully implemented.MP #1 34-49.indd 43MP #1 34-49.indd 432/22/2013 11:22:32 AM2/22/2013 11:22:32 AM