CMA CGM slaps $35/TEU war risk surcharge on Black Sea cargo

CMA CGM will levy a US$35 per TEU War Risk Surcharge on every container moving to and from Black Sea countries from 9 November 2026. The French carrier paired that move with an updated Dangerous Goods Surcharge of US$150 per TEU on IMDG-classified cargo to Jeddah and Port Sudan, which took effect on 27 October 2026.

The two charges land on shippers already absorbing elevated risk-related costs across eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea corridors, and they are additive: CMA CGM states the surcharges sit on top of bunker-related charges, terminal handling charges, security fees and other local costs.

Why is the Black Sea now a war risk zone?

CMA CGM attributes the new surcharge to a deteriorating operational situation in the Black Sea over recent months. The decisive trigger came on 16 September 2026, when the Joint War Committee designated the Black Sea maritime area as a war risk zone — the industry benchmark that insurers and underwriters use to price hull and cargo cover.

That designation translates directly into higher voyage costs for carriers calling at regional ports, and CMA CGM says the surcharge is what allows it to keep serving the trade rather than withdrawing capacity. For shippers moving grain, steel, machinery or consumer goods through Black Sea gateways, the $35 per TEU figure is the immediate, quantifiable consequence: roughly $70 on a standard 40-foot box, applied across every Bill of Lading from 9 November.

One caveat matters for contract planning. The effective date slips to 1 December 2026 for the United States and its territories, Australia, New Zealand and Latin American countries where regulatory filing requirements apply. Shippers and forwarders booking US-export or Latin American-origin cargo to the Black Sea therefore have a longer window before the charge appears on their invoices.

The carrier said it continues to monitor conditions in the region and will pass voyage-specific information to customers when required — language that leaves the door open to further adjustments, or to the surcharge's removal, depending on how the security picture evolves.

What does the $150 dangerous goods charge cover?

The second measure targets hazardous cargo on Red Sea-adjacent lanes. Effective 27 October 2026, CMA CGM applies a US$150 per TEU Dangerous Goods Surcharge to shipments originating in North Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

The charge applies in three directions:

• All IMDG-coded cargo moving to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• All IMDG-coded cargo moving to Port Sudan, Sudan
• IMDG shipments from the same origin regions to the Indian Subcontinent routed via Jeddah

The third category is the commercially significant one for European exporters. Cargo booked to Karachi, Mumbai or Nhava Sheva that transships through Jeddah now carries the hazardous-goods premium on top of ocean freight, meaning forwarders routing IMDG boxes via CMA CGM's Red Sea hub face higher landed costs on a lane that many had shifted toward amid capacity tightness elsewhere.

What should shippers and forwarders do now?

The immediate arithmetic is straightforward. A Black Sea booking at $35 per TEU and a Red Sea IMDG booking at $150 per TEU can be priced into quotations from this week, with the Black Sea charge gated by the destination-specific effective dates of 9 November and 1 December.

Shippers with hazardous cargo should verify whether their routings touch Jeddah or Port Sudan at any leg, since the surcharge applies to the specified destinations rather than to a broad commodity list. Those with flexibility may find alternative routings to the Indian Subcontinent that avoid the Jeddah transship and the attached premium.

Both measures reflect a carrier pricing in geopolitical risk in near real time — a pattern shippers have seen repeatedly since Red Sea diversions began reshaping trade lanes. With the Black Sea now formally designated a war risk area and the carrier explicitly reserving the right to issue voyage-specific advisories, further surcharge actions from CMA CGM — and likely its competitors on the same trades — remain a live possibility.