CMA CGM Signs with Adani to Run Terminal at Mundra Port

CMA Terminals, the ports subsidiary of number three container line CMA CGM, has signed a joint venture agreement with Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) to operate a container terminal at Mundra Port. 

The partnership, which runs for an initial period of 15 years with options for two 10-year extensions, covers CMA and Adani’s recently completed Container Terminal 4 project, which adds 1.3 million TEU of annual capacity to Mundra’s existing facilities. CT4 is currently the only container terminal on India's west coast capable of handling ultra large container vessels, with a harbor depth of 54 feet.

Mundra Port, located near the Pakistani border about 250 nm to the northwest of Mumbai, is already the nation's busiest port by tonnage, and the addition of CT4 makes it the nation’s largest container port by capacity. It competes directly with Mumbai's Nhava Sheva (or Jawaharlal Nehru Port), India’s busiest container facility by TEU volume, for market share in the northwest region. Mundra competes in part on the quality of its intermodal links and its quick turn times, which stand in contrast to recent labor problems and congestion at Nhava Sheva.

CMA CGM has had a presence in India for decades, but CT4 is its first port investment on the subcontinent. APSEZ is India's biggest private port operator, with container terminals at Mundra, Kattupalli and Hazira, plus major projects in development at Ennore, Dhamra and Vizinjham.