• TPM24
  • March 3-6, 2024 | Long Beach Convention Center

Laurent Olmeta

CMA CGM

CEO-Asia Pacific

Laurent Olmeta is CEO of CMA CGM Asia Pacific, overseeing and driving the growth and development of the container shipping business in the region. Prior to his current appointment, Laurent was executive vice president and deputy CEO at CMA CGM America, responsible for trade, operations, digital transformation, and more.

Laurent joined the CMA CGM Group in 2004. With over 18 years of shipping and logistics experience, he held various leadership roles in Brazil, France and the United States, covering finance, global business services, trade and business development. He previously also headed digital transformation for CEVA Logistics, a subsidiary of the Group.

Laurent obtained an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. He also holds a master’s degree in financial engineering at KEDGE Business School and a master’s degree in engineering at École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers.

Sessions With Laurent Olmeta

Tuesday, 5 March

  • 03:05pm - 03:50pm (PST) / 05/mar/2024 11:05 pm - 05/mar/2024 11:50 pm

    Understanding the Asia Container Shipping Environment

    Understanding current, complex container shipping dynamics within APAC is crucial to any supply chain connecting Asia to North America, Europe, or other consumer market. An evolving and overlapping set of forces is shaping growth in the region and connecting it to consumer markets globally. These include the impact of geopolitics, “China+1” resourcing trends, (which some still see as early days), China’s reorientation of its own export machine toward renewables, as well as growing investment by multinationals to cater to the region’s own consumer growth. Reflecting growth in components and consumer goods trade, intra-ASEAN share of total global trade by value has grown by half a percentage point from 4.5% to 5% since the beginning of 2020. Supporting the growth is an expansive network estimated at 87 regional and global ocean carriers plying more than 10,000 unique trade lanes, with multiple departures per hour and customers frequently demanding precise departures and arrivals. Despite the fragmented market, intra-Asia rates have held up given the strength of demand and carriers’ ability in the aggregate to flex capacity in response to short-term changes in demand. This session, featuring APAC-based shipping and logistics leaders and led by Journal of Commerce vice president Peter Tirschwell, now based in Singapore, will cover a broad perspective for BCOs managing Asia supply chains.