CMA CGM and RSGT Sign $434m Jeddah Terminal 4 Agreement
The definitive deal adds 2.6 million TEU and ten ship-to-shore cranes on the Red Sea corridor
CMA CGM and Red Sea Gateway Terminal have signed a definitive agreement to develop and operate Terminal 4 at the port of Jeddah, converting a term sheet agreed last year into a committed project.
The investment is put at SAR 1.6 billion, about $434 million. Once complete, the terminal is expected to add around 2.6 million TEU of annual capacity and will be equipped with ten ship-to-shore cranes, together with new deepwater berths able to take the largest containerships afloat. The work is being carried out in cooperation with the Saudi Ports Authority, Mawani. No construction timeline or completion date has been given.
The location is the point. Jeddah Islamic Port sits on the Red Sea corridor linking Asia, Europe and Africa, and does two jobs at once: gateway for Saudi imports and exports, and regional transshipment hub. A carrier with an equity position in a berth there can direct mainline services into it and build the transshipment connections around its own schedules rather than around somebody else's berth window.
That logic is now explicit in how the group talks about its port assets. Announcing the Jeddah investment, chairman and chief executive Rodolphe Saade said that terminals are becoming increasingly strategic assets as trade patterns evolve and infrastructure requires expansion and modernisation.
The portfolio behind that statement is substantial. Under the definition currently used by CMA Terminals Holding, the group has interests in 66 terminal assets worldwide, which handled approximately 52 million TEU in 2025. It is split across two platforms: CMA Terminals, wholly owned, with 45 terminals and about 22 million TEU last year; and Terminal Link, owned 51% by CMA CGM and 49% by China Merchants Port, with 21 terminals across 16 countries and roughly 30 million TEU. The group says the facilities operate on a multi-user basis, serving other carriers as well as its own ships.
The capital structure is evolving alongside the footprint. In July 2026 CMA CGM and infrastructure investor Stonepeak completed the formation of United Ports, with Stonepeak paying $2.4 billion for a 25% stake while CMA CGM retained 75% and full operational control. The initial portfolio holds nine CMA CGM-operated terminals across five countries, among them Fenix Marine Services in Los Angeles, Port Liberty in New York and Bayonne, Santos, Valencia, Bilbao, Algeciras, Kaohsiung and Gemalink. The transaction implies an equity valuation of roughly $9.6 billion for that initial portfolio, and Stonepeak may invest a further $3.6 billion alongside the carrier in future port opportunities.
Jeddah follows the same shape as Terminal Link and United Ports before it: the carrier brings volumes and terminal experience, and the partner brings capital, local operating capability or both.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 10 September 2026.
