Chinese Maritime Transport to establish dedicated air cargo division

Taiwanese bulk shipping company Chinese Maritime Transport (CMT) announced in mid-June that it plans to establish an air cargo unit, CMT Air Cargo, to diversify its business. CMT currently acts as general cargo sales agent for Saudi Arabian Airlines in Taiwan, and said the setup of a dedicated air cargo unit will help the company expand its air cargo agent business.

Air cargo sales contributed just TWD12 million (US$400,000) of revenue for CMT in 2013, but the company said it expected to improve this to TWD100 million (US$3.3 million) in the next two years and to TWD500 million (US$16.7 million) in the long term. CMT’s core business, shipping of bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore, has been in the doldrums since 2008.