South Korea’s Hyundai Glovis Co. is diversifying its shipping portfolio beyond the transportation of vehicles from Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp.

According to data on Sunday regarding its privately owned vessels acquired over the past five years, the company purchased one tanker ship in 2021, two in 2022, and two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers this year.

Traditionally, Hyundai Glovis had been heavily reliant on the transportation of completed vehicles for affiliated

Hyundai Motor and Kia have been assessed by the industry as lacking competitiveness in pursuing shipping operations independently. However, the company has embarked on a transformative journey since the Covid-19 pandemic.

As of the end of last year, Hyundai Glovis operated 32 car carriers and 13 other vessels as privately owned ships.

This year, it added two large LPG carriers for transporting gas: The Taebaek Explorer, introduced in March, and the Sobaek Explorer, scheduled for delivery in mid-2024. The two carriers are capable of carrying 86,000 cubic meters of LPG.

Contracts with Trafigura, a Singapore-based raw materials trading company with revenues of $230 billion last year, have already been signed for the maritime transportation of these vessels.

Hyundai Glovis is also striving to increase revenue from non-affiliated companies in its core business of vehicle transportation.

The proportion of revenue from non-affiliated companies in the vehicle transportation business reached a record high of 61 percent in 2021.

However, with the end of the pandemic and the growth of car exports by Hyundai Motor and Kia, the proportion of revenue from non-affiliated companies has decreased to 48 percent.

Internally, the company aims to bring the proportion of revenue from non-affiliated companies back to over 50 percent in the medium to long term.

To achieve this goal, Hyundai Glovis plans to increase its fleet of car carriers, including privately owned and chartered vessels, from the current 87 ships to 110 ships by 2027.

In October last year, the company’s board decided to invest 2.49 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to secure 12 of the world’s largest LNG-powered car carriers for long-term chartering over 20 years.

By Park Je-wan and Minu Kim

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