Rodolphe Saade, the billionaire head of the world’s third-largest container shipping line, warned that the industry is entering a choppy period as new vessels ordered during the pandemic shipping boom enter service next year.
“The difficulty in our sector is that we have a number of container ships that will come into the market starting next year, and that runs the risk of creating an imbalance between supply and demand,” Saade, chief executive officer of Marseille-based shipping giant CMA CGM SA, said in an interview.
He was speaking on Friday at an event in Paris to mark the creation of a nonprofit artificial intelligence research lab that is being backed by the company his family controls.
Photo: Bloomberg
The outlook for the shipping sector has darkened considerably in recent months, with some of the largest container lines including AP Moller-Maersk A/S, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM publishing significant slumps in third-quarter earnings and outlining plans for cost-cutting. Some have said that they fear the decline would last through next year.
“We’re expecting between 2 percent and 3 percent of trade growth next year,” Saade said, adding that CMA CGM is “financially solid” with significant market share in countries in which it is operating that would help it weather the difficulties.
“The shipping industry is used to these highs and lows. It’s completely cyclical,” he said. “We had excellent results in 2021 and 2022. Now we’re entering more normal times and we’re equipped for that.”
CMA CGM has used its pandemic windfall to invest and expand, acquiring ports, logistics and air transport assets, including its biggest-ever deal to acquire Bollore SE’s logistics arm for an enterprise value of US$5.4 billion.
Closely held CMA CGM was started by his father, Jacques, and the family remains in control. Under Rodolphe, the company has diversified into the media, buying newspapers such as La Tribune and La Provence.
STEADY: Prices are to rebound following inventory rebuilding demand, TrendForce said, with Samsung Electronics Co further trimming capacity as it slashes DDR4 lines The contract prices of DRAM chips are to rise by as much as 18 percent sequentially this quarter — the first price upticks in about eight quarters — driven mainly by inventory rebuilding demand for DRAM chips used in mobile devices and PCs, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) projected yesterday. The price rebound is led by a quarterly increase of mobile DRAM chips, which are to climb between 13 percent and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, which has not been seen since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Taipei-based market researcher predicted. Likewise, the price of mainstream PC DDR4 DRAM is expected to bounce
CHINA NOT A FRIEND: ‘Newsflash: Democracy is good for your businesses,’ US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said as she gave a speech at a national defense forum US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security. Speaking at an annual national defense forum in Simi Valley, California, Raimondo called Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had” and stressed that “China is not our friend.” The world’s top two economies are locked in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry, in which her department plays a leading role. In October, Raimondo unveiled a series of restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China, including those used in the development of artificial intelligence
SOLID FOUNDATION: Given its decades of expertise in megatronics, manufacturing and robotics, Japan has the wherewithal to create its own AI, Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp plans to help build an artificial intelligence (AI) tech-related ecosystem in Japan to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in this emerging technology. The US company will seek to partner with Japanese research organizations, companies and start-ups to build factories for AI, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday during opening remarks in a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura. The company is to set up an AI research laboratory, and invest in local start-ups and educate the public on using AI, Huang said. Huang earlier this week met with Japanese Prime
A Hong Kong court postponed a court hearing on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group’s (恆大集團) winding-up petition scheduled for yesterday until Jan. 29. Evergrande is trying to win support from its creditors for a plan to restructure more than US$300 billion in debt to stave off liquidation. The company’s lawyer told the court it was requesting an adjournment to “refine” its new debt restructuring plan. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. Judge Linda Chan (陳靜芬) had said in October that yesterday’s hearing would be the last before a decision is handed down. Chan