S. Korean Government Ensures Deliveries for Domestic Shippers

Cementing its role as the South Korean national carrier of choice, HMM is partnering with Korea Post to offer door-to-door delivery service for small and medium Korean businesses. 

Domestic access to international transport has become a major priority for the Korean government, given the congestion and extreme pricing in the overheated transpacific ocean freight market. Benchmark China-to-U.S. West Coast rates for a forty-foot unit are running in excess of $20,000 per trip, empty containers are in short supply, and vessels arriving at the key West Coast port hubs face weeklong delays. 

The Korean government is a major financial backer for HMM, the country's sole remaining global container carrier. One of the government's objectives in sustaining this national champion is to ensure availability of transport for Korea's small and medium enterprises. 

In a newly-announced partnership, Korea Post - a division of the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT - will be working with HMM to provide end-to-end logistics for a limited number of Korean businesses. HMM will carry export cargo from the port of Gwangyang to a terminal at Long Beach, where it will be picked up by Korea Post's trucking network for delivery to inland markets like Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago. 

The deal expands on an existing arrangement between HMM and the Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Under that agreement, HMM and the smaller SM Line have set aside nearly 12,500 TEU worth of space for smaller Korean businesses over the course of the past 10 months.