The French shipping company CMA CGM has never fully suspended operations in the Red Sea, even at the height of the Houthi crisis. It should not be forgotten that the group has roots in the Middle East: its founder, Jacques Saadé, was Lebanese and moved to Marseille following the war in Lebanon in the 1970s, while the company is now led by his son Rodolphe. Today, in particular, CMA CGM has a strong relationship with Egypt and is therefore closely linked to the Suez Canal and, by extension, the Red Sea. In the Arabian Peninsula, the company is established mainly in Saudi Arabia and Oman, where it also has a presence in inland operations.
It is precisely in terminals that CMA CGM has now completed a significant transaction in Saudi Arabia. On 25 August 2026, the company signed final agreements with Red Sea Gateway Terminal in Paris, on the sidelines of the Franco-Saudi investment summit attended by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron, to jointly develop and operate Terminal 4 at the port of Jeddah, in partnership with Mawani (Saudi Ports Authority). The initial investment amounts to about $434 million, roughly €372 million, equal to 1.6 billion Saudi riyals, and the new facility will add up to 2.6 million TEU of annual capacity alongside the terminals already operated by RSGT.
Unlike a standalone concession, Terminal 4 has been structured as a sub-concession within the long-term concession that RSGT has held at Jeddah since 2020. CMA CGM will therefore enter as an operating and financial partner, rather than as the holder of a separate concession title. The agreement updates and formalises the process launched in October 2025, when the two companies signed a term sheet for a potential joint venture, at the time envisaging an investment of about 1.7 billion riyals, or $450 million. That figure has been revised slightly downwards in the final version. Neither company had announced a timetable for the start of works at the time of signing.
RSGT is Saudi Arabia’s leading terminal operator and had already increased the capacity of Jeddah’s northern container terminal from 2.5 million to 6.2 million TEU in 2024. With Terminal 4, the group’s total capacity at the port would rise to about 8.8 million TEU a year. The new terminal, separate from but adjacent to RSGT’s existing facilities, will have deep-water berths for the largest container ships, ten new ship-to-shore cranes and advanced technologies. The project forms part of Saudi Arabia’s National Transport and Logistics Strategy and the Vision 2030 objectives for the Kingdom’s economic diversification. RSGT chief executive Lars Vang Christensen described the signing as a milestone in the port’s development, while CMA CGM chairman Rodolphe Saadé linked the transaction to the growing strategic importance of terminals in ensuring the reliability of the group’s trade routes.
Antonio Illariuzzi
