CMA CGM’s New Reefer Surcharges: Which Containers Actually Pay

Across four notices with effective dates from 1 August to 1 September, CMA CGM has published four reefer-specific surcharge changes that do not apply in the same way to the dry box loading beside them. One is an equipment surcharge at Antwerp and Rotterdam, one is a congestion charge into Tema, one is a peak season surcharge into West Africa, and one is a reduction on the Middle East Gulf lane.

The amounts are straightforward. The dates require more attention. Four of the five charge lines below explicitly use the loading date at origin to determine applicability. The Tema congestion notice publishes effective dates but does not state whether loading, discharge, booking or B/L date decides which containers fall inside them.

The four filings at a glance

Charge	Scope	Amount	Effective	Date basis
Equipment Surcharge	Reefer ex Antwerp	US$500 per container, prepaid	1 Aug 2026	Loading date at origin port
Equipment Surcharge	Reefer ex Rotterdam	US$600 per container, prepaid	1 Aug 2026	Loading date at origin port
Peak Season Surcharge (reduced level)	Reefer, North Europe to Middle East Gulf	US$1,000 per container	15 Aug 2026	Loading date
Port Congestion Surcharge	Reefer to Tema, Ghana	€100 or US$115 per TEU from North Europe, Scandinavia, Baltic, Adriatic, West and East Mediterranean, Black Sea and North Africa. US$400 per TEU from all other origins	25 Aug 2026, and 20 Sep 2026 for the US, US territories, Australia and Latin American countries subject to filing	Not stated in the published notice
Peak Season Surcharge	Reefer to West Africa, from North Europe, Baltic, Scandinavia, West Mediterranean and Adriatic	€100 per TEU	1 Sep 2026	Loading date

CMA CGM reefer-specific surcharge changes effective from 1 August to 1 September 2026. Local charges, terminal handling and D&D apply separately and vary by terminal and contract.

The Antwerp and Rotterdam surcharges carry a long exclusion list. They apply to destinations worldwide except West Africa, East Africa, the United States and its territories, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Leeward and Windward Islands, ECCA, the Caribbean, the French West Indies, French Guiana, Guyana and North Brazil. A reefer leaving Rotterdam for Lagos pays nothing under this filing. The same box routed to Singapore pays US$600.

What is a reefer equipment surcharge?

A reefer equipment surcharge is a per-container charge applied to refrigerated cargo at a specific origin port, priced separately from the ocean freight rate and from any fuel or peak season charge on the same booking. CMA CGM’s current filing sets it at US$500 per container from Antwerp and US$600 from Rotterdam, prepaid, on the loading date at the origin port, valid until further notice.

CMA CGM’s published reason is keeping refrigerated services reliable and efficient. The carrier has not published a cost breakdown behind the amount, so any explanation of what specifically drives the surcharge should be treated as inference rather than a carrier statement.

The wider context is that reefer availability has remained constrained on key trades in 2026 despite continued additions to the global reefer fleet. Our earlier analysis of how the Hormuz closure broke the container repositioning cycle covers why specialised equipment can remain out of circulation longer when routings extend and repositioning patterns break down.

What is a port congestion surcharge, and why does Tema’s apply only to reefer?

A port congestion surcharge is triggered by conditions at a named port, although its scope and amount can still vary by origin, cargo type and trade. CMA CGM’s Tema filing is scoped to reefer because the carrier cites congestion in the port’s reefer yard specifically.

That scoping is the part worth understanding. A reefer yard is a constrained sub-area of a terminal with a limited number of powered plugs. It can saturate while dry containers elsewhere in the terminal continue moving, which is why a congestion charge can land on temperature-controlled cargo without applying to the dry box on the same vessel.

Tema is not the first. CMA CGM introduced a reefer-only congestion surcharge at Conakry, Guinea in January 2026, set at US$1,500 or €1,300 per TEU, settled with the freight and subject to space availability, with the carrier pointing customers to B/L clause 385 and recommending delivery under tackle. Hapag-Lloyd prices the same lane on a reefer differential, which we covered in the August review of Conakry, Mexico and East Mediterranean repricing.

The two-tier effective date, and the trades it splits

Both the Tema and Conakry reefer congestion notices use a two-tier structure: one effective date for most origins and a later date for origins subject to filing requirements.

Tema: 25 August 2026 generally, 20 September 2026 for the US, US territories, Australia and Latin American countries subject to filing.
Conakry: 15 January 2026 generally, 1 February 2026 for cargo originating in North America and Latin America, on loading date.

For Tema, the published effective date for the US and other filing markets starts 26 days later than the general date. A European-origin and US-origin reefer moving to the same destination therefore sit under different published implementation dates even before any contract-specific terms are considered.

Why the booking date will not tell you which charge applies

Four of the five charge lines above name the loading date rather than the booking date. Antwerp, Rotterdam, the Middle East Gulf PSS reduction and the West Africa PSS all key to loading at origin. A reefer booked on 28 July and loaded from Rotterdam on 3 August carries the equipment surcharge. The same booking loaded on 30 July does not.

Tema is the exception. Its notice publishes effective dates without identifying the shipment event that determines applicability. It does not state whether the relevant date is loading, discharge, booking or B/L issuance, so the public notice alone does not settle a borderline shipment. The applicable tariff or written carrier confirmation becomes the important document.

This distinction matters when invoices are reconciled. For four of the five charge lines, the container’s origin loading event provides the date needed to test applicability. For Tema, the first step is confirming which shipment event the carrier tariff uses and then matching that rule against the container’s event history. A booking date on its own is not enough.

If your team is reconstructing container events from carrier portals to work out which surcharge each reefer caught, walk through how ops teams pull container-level event dates across carriers into one view.

Is the whole market repricing reefer separately?

No, and the distinction matters for anyone quoting across carriers. On major East-West head-hauls, reefer can still sit inside surcharges applied across multiple equipment types. Maersk’s August peak season surcharge from Far East Asia to North Europe and the Mediterranean applies to dry, reefer, tank and flat-rack equipment. Hapag-Lloyd’s June Asia-Europe PSS covered dry, reefer, special and high cube equipment at the same size-based quantum, as recorded in our June review of Asia-Europe surcharge filings.

But carriers also create reefer-specific instruments where the constraint is specific to refrigerated equipment or cold-chain handling. Conakry and Tema both carry reefer-only congestion charges from CMA CGM, while Hapag-Lloyd applies a reefer differential on Conakry. The Antwerp and Rotterdam ERS shows the same reefer-specific pricing logic appearing at the origin side of other trades.

Fuel is a separate matter again. Reefer levels sit above dry inside emergency fuel surcharge tables across carriers, including ONE’s September EFS revision. A reefer EFS line on your invoice does not mean the rest of the reefer surcharge picture is covered.

What to check before you quote a reefer

Origin port, not just origin region. Antwerp and Rotterdam differ by US$100 per container under the same equipment-surcharge notice.
Destination against the exclusion list. The equipment surcharge drops out entirely for West Africa, East Africa, the US and its territories, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the listed Caribbean and South American destinations.
Expected loading date against 1 August, 15 August and 1 September. The Antwerp, Rotterdam, Middle East Gulf and West Africa filings use loading date, so a booking made before the effective date can still pay.
Origin country against the two-tier Tema date. The US, US territories, Australia and Latin American countries subject to filing move to the later 20 September effective date.
The applicable tariff for Tema’s date basis. The public notice does not identify which shipment event determines applicability, so confirm the rule before quoting a borderline shipment.
Whether your contract absorbs these lines or passes them through. Check the negotiated rate agreement rather than assuming an equipment or congestion surcharge sits inside the base freight.

Frequently asked questions

What is a reefer equipment surcharge?

A per-container charge on refrigerated cargo at a named origin port, separate from ocean freight and from fuel or peak season charges. CMA CGM’s current filing is US$500 per container from Antwerp and US$600 from Rotterdam, prepaid, effective 1 August 2026 on the loading date at origin.

What is a reefer port congestion surcharge?

A charge triggered by congestion at a named port and applied here specifically to refrigerated cargo. CMA CGM’s Tema surcharge is €100 or US$115 per TEU from North Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic, the Adriatic, the West and East Mediterranean, the Black Sea and North Africa, and US$400 per TEU from all other origins, citing congestion in the port’s reefer yard.

Does the Antwerp and Rotterdam reefer surcharge apply to US-bound cargo?

No. The United States and its territories are on the exclusion list, along with West Africa, East Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Leeward and Windward Islands, ECCA, the Caribbean, the French West Indies, French Guiana, Guyana and North Brazil.

When does the Tema reefer congestion surcharge take effect for US shippers?

The published effective date is 20 September 2026 for the US, US territories, Australia and Latin American countries subject to filing. For other origins, the general effective date is 25 August 2026. CMA CGM’s public notice does not specify which shipment event determines applicability, so check the applicable tariff for shipments close to either date.

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