South Korea’s leading container carrier Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. (HMM) has established a consortium with Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Co., Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd and Japan’s Ocean Network Express (ONE), a joint venture of three Japanese container carriers, to reorganize its services connecting Asia to the West Coast of Latin America.

The consortium will begin servicing three routes passing Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia in early April after ironing out detailed plans next month. An official from HMM said that it will work hard to strengthen its presence in the Asia to Latin America routes and raise profitability.

Routes connecting Asia to the Americas accounted for the lion’s share of 43.8 percent in sales of HMM as of the third quarter last year. Out of 11 lines that the shipper runs its own vessels, three are routes to the West Coast of the Americas. Including its services with 2M Alliance, it operates 10 lines to the West and East Coast of the Americas out of total 65. As for routes to Latin America, it just has one on its own and four when combined with 2M Alliance. HMM said the routes connecting to Latin America have a great potential to grow in the long term.

By Moon Ji-woong and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]