CMA CGM slams congestion surcharges on Tema, Freetown, Monrovia

CMA CGM will levy port congestion surcharges of up to US$1,000 per TEU on reefer cargo moving to Tema, Ghana, starting November 1, 2026, with charges across three West African gateways — Tema, Freetown and Monrovia — collected alongside freight payment rather than billed separately.

For most origins the new fees apply from November 1, based on loading date. Shipments from the United States and Brazil get a two-week grace period: those surcharges begin November 15.

The French carrier attributed the move to "current operating conditions" at the three ports — a phrase that stops well short of specifying berth delays, draft restrictions or crane shortages. What CMA CGM did not say is how long the charges will remain in place. Congestion surcharges in this trade have a habit of outliving the congestion.

What do shippers pay at Tema?

Dry containers bound for Tema carry a surcharge of €200 or US$200 per container, depending on origin. Far East shipments face US$200 per TEU.

Reefer shippers take the heavier hit: €850 or US$1,000 per TEU. The surcharge structure covers cargo from the Far East, Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Americas — in effect, nearly every major trade lane feeding Ghana's main container gateway.

At US$1,000 per box, a reefer importer running 100 TEU a month from the Far East into Tema now budgets an extra US$1.2 million a year before negotiating a single rate.

How do Freetown and Monrovia differ?

Freetown's surcharge scales by origin in three tiers:

• €350 per TEU from Northern Europe, the Western Mediterranean, the Adriatic and North Africa
• US$400 per TEU from North America, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea
• US$700 per TEU from the Far East, Indian Subcontinent, Middle East Gulf and specified regions of the Americas

All three Freetown rates cover dry, refrigerated and special equipment — unlike Tema, where the filing distinguishes between box types.

Monrovia mirrors the Tema structure but at lower levels. Dry containers from Northern Europe, the Western Mediterranean, the Adriatic and North Africa pay €250 per container; refrigerated cargo from those origins pays €600 per TEU.

From the Far East, Indian Subcontinent, Middle East Gulf, North America, South America, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea and specified Central American and Caribbean origins, the charge runs US$300 per dry container or US$700 per reefer TEU.

What does this mean for rates and contracts?

The immediate commercial burden falls on shippers and forwarders with fixed-price contracts, since CMA CGM confirmed collection together with the freight payment — the surcharge rides on top of agreed ocean rates regardless of contract terms. Importers of perishables into Ghana face the steepest proportional increase; a US$1,000 reefer levy can exceed the base freight on some Far East–West Africa legs.

For carriers, the move signals that West African port productivity has deteriorated enough to price into bookings rather than absorb. For competitors on the same lanes — Maersk and MSC both serve Tema — the question is whether they follow. Surcharges rarely stay unilateral for long in trades this concentrated.

The caveat: CMA CGM has not published port-level data justifying the fees, so shippers cannot independently verify the claimed congestion. With the first charges hitting on November 1, the market will learn quickly whether rivals match — and whether the surcharges quietly become permanent fixtures of the West Africa tariff.