CMA CGM will raise Freight All Kinds (FAK) rates from all main Asian ports to the Mediterranean and North Africa, effective 19 through 31 October 2026, with North African destinations facing the steepest tariffs at US$5,200 per 20-foot container and US$6,900 per 40-foot and 40-foot high cube box.

The French carrier's new tariff card sets West Mediterranean rates at US$3,600 per 20-foot container and US$4,600 per 40-foot or 40-foot high cube unit. Adriatic shipments will pay US$3,700 and US$4,700 for the respective box sizes. East Mediterranean and Black Sea cargo carry identical rates: US$3,900 per TEU equivalent and US$4,900 per FEU.

The filing covers dry and reefer containers, out-of-gauge cargo and paying empty containers from all main Asian origin ports to Mediterranean ports in the listed regions.

For shippers on the Asia–Mediterranean trade, the North Africa differential stands out. At US$5,200 for a 20-footer, the rate runs US$1,600 above East Mediterranean and Black Sea levels and a full US$1,600 above the West Mediterranean tariff — a gap that will bite hardest for importers running shorter-haul North African volumes on the same headhaul legs.

The two-week validity window, 19 to 31 October, signals a time-limited push typical of peak-season FAK actions. Shippers with cargo flexibility may look to load ahead of 19 October or roll shipments into November, when a new tariff or extension will determine whether the increases stick.

Forwarders booking reefer and out-of-gauge cargo should note that the increase applies across equipment types, removing any workaround via specialised boxes. Empty repositioning costs also rise for paying empties, a factor for carriers managing imbalances on the headhaul and for lessors tracking empty-handling charges on the lane.

For CMA CGM, the move targets yield recovery on a trade lane where capacity discipline and demand seasonality collide each autumn. The uniform structure — roughly US$1,000 spread between the 20-foot and 40-foot rates on most corridors, widening to US$1,700 on North Africa — suggests the carrier is pricing North African port pairs as a distinct premium market rather than an extension of Mediterranean basins.

How rivals on the Asia–Mediterranean lane respond over the coming weeks will determine whether CMA CGM's 19 October levels become the market floor or an outlier.