SJ Logistics, HMM launch joint Asia-Europe rail service

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will transport cargoes from South Korea to China, which will then be loaded onto the Trans China Railway by SJ Logistics for transport to Europe, an HMM spokesperson has confirmed.    SJ Logistics and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) will jointly participate on a block train service to Europe via the Trans China Railway (TCR) from South Korea, an HMM spokesperson confirmed. 
   The rail service will be operated by SJ Logistics while HMM will participate on the ocean transportation portion, the spokesperson said. HMM will ship cargoes either from Busan, Incheon, Pyeongtaek to China’s Qingdao or Rizhao, and then SJ Logistics will pick up the cargoes from there and move to Chengdu through to Europe. 
   According to local media source Yonhap News, the TCR service reduces travel time to Poland to 18 to 23 days from the 35 to 40 days needed for sea transportation. It costs up to $7,000 for the delivery of goods to Europe through the TCR per TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container compared with up to $4,000 on the sea route, Yonhap News said.
   “We are trying to make efforts to enhance the competitiveness of the TCR block train in terms of prices,” an official of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. “We’ve made some progress in the subsidy negotiations with Chinese provincial governments. We need to reduce the 99 percent dependency on the sea route for the delivery of exports.”
   According to Yonhap News, companies such as Samsung SDS, LG Electronics and Hyundai Glovis have already expressed interest in the service for the shipping of televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, auto parts and other high value-added products.