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US-produced bioLNG volumes in play for CMA CGM
The French container line has signed a long-term deal for volumes of renewable natural gas
CMA CGM is taking a minority investment in US-based biomethane producer Vanguard Renewables to gain access to what it calls "significant volumes of RNG (renewable natural gas)" to be delivered on a long-term basis.
Vanguard Renewables lays claim to a "network of solutions to divert organic waste from landfills", and the company says it collaborates with food and beverage manufacturers and retailers seeking organic waste disposal options.
"The company produces RNG through proprietary anerobic digesters that are powered by farm and organic waste. Vanguard Renewable will dedicate up to four projects to CMA CGM production. With this option, CMA CGM can access high-quality, low carbon intensity RNG produced by Vanguard Renewables’ large-scale facilities across the US," a statement from Vanguard Renewables said.
Vanguard said it produces RNG using both dairy and food waste, and it is backed by the world’s largest investment fund and asset manager, BlackRock.
CMA CGM’s investment in Vanguard Renewables comes shortly after the company took a stake in a Finnish methane-splitting firm. The clean-tech company is set to begin operations in 2025 at its recently completed industrial-scale methane-splitting plant in Kokkola, Finland, which is the largest in Europe.
In March 2025, CMA CGM also promised recently re-elected US President Trump it would invest US$20Bn over four years, saying the money will be used to bolster the US maritime economy and support the transformation of America’s domestic supply chain.
Pandemic era pushes liner company profits to historic highs
Figures released in April 2025 by climate change NGO Opportunity Green showed profits on an “extraordinary scale” have been made by leading shipping companies in the years since the pandemic.
The world’s 139 largest shipping companies – accounting for 90% of the world’s fleet – made almost US$340.0Bn in profits from 2019-2023, the last year for which full figures are available. Of this sum, 93% was taken by the top 10 largest companies, the report says
“The pandemic created an enormous windfall for shipping companies as the easing of lockdown restrictions caused a spike in global demand for freight, pushing prices up to record levels. But freight prices have soared again since 2023, as a result of disruptions to global shipping routes including drought restrictions on the Panama Canal and attacks by the Houthis on ships in the Red Sea. As freight prices have risen, so have shipping company profits,” the report said.
It added, “Yet despite these record earnings, shipping company taxes have remained catastrophically low and many of the world’s biggest shipping companies are failing to pay their fair share of taxes.”
According to the report, the top three publicly listed European shipping companies, Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag Lloyd, paid only $4.6Bn in taxes in total over five years, while making nearly half of all profits globally (US$137.0Bn) among the shipping companies studied. Had the top 10 largest shipping companies paid the average rate of tax faced by other companies in their home countries, the additional tax raised would have been US$42.0Bn.
CMA CGM has made its investments in fuel supply chain infrastructure through its dedicated strategic energy investments fund, PULSE.
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