The Chinese battery technology specialist Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and the Danish major shipping company A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly advance the decarbonisation of global supply chains and to further strengthen CATL's international logistics. This was reported in a press release dated October 10.
The signing ceremony reportedly took place on October 9 in Hong Kong and was attended by executives from both companies. The MoU was signed by Morten Bo Christiansen, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Energy Transition at A.P. Moller – Maersk, and Akin Li, Executive President of Overseas Car Business at CATL. As witnesses were Robert Maersk Uggla, Chairman of A.P. Moller – Maersk, and Libin Tan, Chief Customer Officer and Co-President of Sales & Marketing
at CATL, as well as other executives and representatives from both companies.
Maersk as CATL's preferred logistics partner
According to the company, the MoU builds on the five-year collaboration between Maersk and CATL in the areas of sea transport, intermodal transport, and other logistics solutions. Under the new agreement, Maersk is to act as CATL's preferred global logistics partner and to provide integrated services such as ocean and air freight, project logistics, and warehousing.
Both parties also aim to develop scalable models to help CATL safeguard the resilience of its supply chain in a rapidly changing global environment. Custom solutions should be tailored to meet the requirements of various markets.
Furthermore, Maersk and CATL intend to collaborate to electrify key nodes of the supply chain using CATL's battery technology. This includes the electrification
of container transport, port infrastructure, inland transport, and warehousing logistics. These initiatives will be supported by solutions for electrical system design, energy management and end-of-life battery recycling. As part of this agreement, CATL will act as the preferred battery technology partner to support Maersk's decarbonisation strategy. Maersk's stated aim is to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its entire business operations by 2040.
Morten Bo Christiansen, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Energy Transition at A.P. Moller – Maersk:
“The collaboration between Maersk and CATL has continuously evolved. We are pleased to inaugurate this new phase of the partnership, in which we combine CATL's advanced battery technologies with our integrated logistics capabilities to set new standards in logistics. This partnership offers a strong opportunity to accelerate the decarbonisation of global logistics —
not only for Maersk, but also for our customers and the entire industry.”
CATL has committed to becoming a carbon-neutral technology company and focuses on three strategic lines of business: transport electrification, industrial decarbonisation, and carbon-free energy networks. The company plans to achieve climate neutrality in its core operations by 2025 and in the entire battery supply chain by 2035.
Libin Tan, Chief Customer Officer and Co-President of Sales & Marketing at CATL:
“As a global giant of integrated logistics, A.P. Moller – Maersk, just like CATL, shares the goal of driving the energy transition and achieving a net-zero-emissions future. In this new phase of development, both parties intend to deepen their cooperation in the areas of shipping, end-to-end supply chain, digitisation, and new energy applications to jointly accelerate the decarbonisation of the
