Thursday, November 12, 2026
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Ocean Nov 12, 2026 · 7 min read

CMA CGM adds a $1,600 Med surcharge from 25 November

Tracker Carrier surcharges and GRIs this month · 4,389 $/FEU

Two carriers, one Med surcharge, and a market that is already sliding

CMA CGM will add a $1,600-per-40ft peak season surcharge on cargo from Asia to the Mediterranean and North Africa. The 20ft charge is $800. It applies to boxes loaded at origin on or after 25 November 2026. It has no end date. CMA CGM posted the notice on its website on 10 November. El Estrecho Digital reports that it was first published on 6 November and sent out by CMA CGM Spain on 9 November.

That makes two of the largest carriers on the lane billing roughly $1,500 to $1,600 per 40ft from the last week of November. Maersk’s Far East–Med surcharge of $1,500 per 40ft starts on 23 November.

Our view: this matters less than it looks. One carrier adding a surcharge is easy to discount. Two carriers adding near-identical ones is harder. But a charge only sticks if shippers pay it, and the market says they will not pay most of it. The Med index is already falling, the 1 November rate increases on Asia–Europe failed, and carriers have plenty of margin to give back. We expect most of this charge to be waived, discounted or folded into lower base rates.

What CMA CGM filed

A peak season surcharge, or PSS, is an extra fee carriers add on top of the base ocean rate when they say demand is high. It sits beside the other add-ons, not in place of them.

CMA CGM’s notice covers all Asian main ports to all Mediterranean and North African base ports. It applies to dry boxes, reefers (refrigerated containers), out-of-gauge cargo (loads too big for a standard box, such as on flat racks) and paying empties. The amounts are $800 per 20ft and $1,600 per 40ft.

The trigger is the loading date at the origin port, not the arrival date. A box that loads on 25 November pays it, whenever it arrives. El Estrecho Digital puts the duration plainly: “The company has not set a specific end date for the surcharge, which will remain in effect until further notice.”

The notice also says bunker (fuel), terminal handling and security charges may still apply on top. For cargo from China, CMA CGM says the PSS is subject to filing with the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, or will be included in ocean freight. That last point matters. On China-origin quotes, the charge may not appear as a separate line at all.

Maersk’s notice, dated 4 November, is similar in shape. “Maersk is implementing the Peak Season Surcharge (PSS) for the scope of Far East Asia to Mediterranean,” it says. It charges $750 per 20ft and $1,500 per 40ft and 45ft, from a price calculation date of 23 November. For non-spot bookings under US Federal Maritime Commission rules, that date is the last container gate-in.

Why a second filing does not settle it

The obvious case for the surcharge sticking is this: when several carriers file the same charge for the same dates, it stops being one carrier’s ask and starts to look like the lane’s price. That case is real. It is why we take CMA CGM’s filing seriously.

But carriers on Asia–Europe also filed together for 1 November. Freightos said on 3 November that carriers had “planned GRIs of $1,000 – $1,500/FEU for these lanes” at the start of the month. A GRI is a general rate increase, a higher base rate for a whole trade from a set date. An FEU is a forty-foot equivalent unit, or one 40ft box.

Those increases did not hold. Judah Levine, head of research at Freightos, wrote on 10 November: “Carriers seem to have abandoned November 1st GRI hopes for Asia – Europe lanes as well.” He went on: “prices dipped 5% last week to $3,400/FEU to North Europe and 1% to $4,300/FEU to the Mediterranean.”

Even before the month began, buyers were doubtful. Freightos’ 28 October update, carried by AJOT, said “some forwarders are already seeing carrier discounts and don’t expect November GRIs to stick”. So the joint-filing test has already been run once this month. It failed.

What the Med index is doing

The Mediterranean was the strongest lane in Asia–Europe through October. Freightos’ Asia–Mediterranean index (FBX13) rose 8% to $4,252 per FEU in Freightos’ 28 October update. By 3 November it had reached $4,375. Freightos said carriers had pushed rates up “23% to the Mediterranean over the past month.”

That run has stalled. FBX13 slipped 1% to $4,300 in the 10 November update. North Europe (FBX11) fell harder, by 5% to $3,400.

That is the backdrop for the surcharges. They land on a lane that has turned. A surcharge is easier for a carrier to defend than a new base rate. It is also easier to drop quietly when bookings slow. When carriers move from base-rate increases to add-ons in a falling market, we read it as a sign they cannot lift the rate itself.

There is one strong argument on the carriers’ side: they can afford to give ground. Levine notes that “prices are well above last year’s levels,” adding “with N. Europe rates up 50% year on year and Mediterranean prices up 88%.” At those levels, waiving a surcharge for a large account costs a carrier little. It also means sales teams have every reason to offer waivers to keep volume.

What this means for forwarders and shippers

First, quote it. Any Asia–Med or Asia–North Africa booking that could load on or after 25 November with CMA CGM, or have a price date on or after 23 November with Maersk, should carry the charge. Show it as its own line, with the carrier and date, so you can remove it cleanly if it is waived.

Second, watch the China wording. CMA CGM says the PSS on China cargo may be filed or included in ocean freight. If a China-origin rate looks unchanged, ask whether the PSS is already inside it. If it is, you are comparing an all-in number with a base number from another carrier.

Third, read your contracts. Many named account contracts (NACs, rates agreed for a specific shipper) and some index-linked deals treat surcharges differently from base rates. Some pass a PSS straight through. Some exclude it. Some cap it. If yours is linked to an index, check whether the index figure you settle against is meant to include surcharges like this one. That decides whether you pay $1,600 on top, or nothing extra.

Fourth, ask for waivers on committed volume. Freight-all-kinds (FAK) rates, the standard spot tariff for most cargo, are the most exposed to a surcharge. Contract cargo with a minimum quantity commitment gives you the most leverage to ask for a waiver. Ask both carriers in writing before late-November loadings.

Fifth, compare all-in prices, not headlines. If base rates soften while two surcharges arrive, the total cost may barely move. That is the most likely outcome. Shippers should ask for the full breakdown on every quote.

For lanes, our guess is that the charge bites hardest where shippers have the fewest carrier options. North Africa, which CMA CGM names in its notice title, is the place to watch. Where a port has several carriers calling from Asia, we expect more discounting.

There is a contract angle too. Spot prices in the last weeks of the year feed into talks on 2027 annual contracts. A Med spot price swollen by surcharges in late November is a poor base for a full-year number. Shippers negotiating Med volumes should benchmark against base rates and treat the PSS as temporary.

Our prediction

A matching surcharge from a second large carrier is the clearest signal that the Med charge could become a lane-wide price. It has now arrived, and we do not think it changes the outlook. It has arrived into a weaker market than a week ago. The Med index has turned down, North Europe fell 5%, and Freightos says carriers seem to have abandoned the 1 November increases. A second filing on its own does not change how much cargo there is or how many ships are on the lane.

Our call: by the first week of December, Freightos’ Asia–Mediterranean index (FBX13) will be below $4,875 per FEU. That is less than $575 above the $4,300 Freightos reported on 10 November. If both surcharges were paid in full, the index would be heading for about $5,800 to $5,900. So our call means well under half of the surcharges show up in market prices. We also expect the mid-November Asia–North Europe increase to fail like the first, with FBX11 still below $4,000 per FEU by the same date.

What would prove us wrong: a third major carrier filing a matching Med charge for late November, or Freightos’ Med index rising week on week in the update after 25 November. If either happens, the surcharge is holding.

Sources

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