NVO Countdown – No. 11

By Eric Johnson

   This is the second in our yearlong countdown of the top 12 non-vessel-operating common carriers for U.S. inbound containerized cargo.
   Using data provided to American Shipper by the trade intelligence firm Zepol Corp., we’ll take a closer look at each of these companies in terms of where their cargo originates, where in the United States it’s destined, which liner carriers they use, and how their volumes have trended quarter to quarter.
   The series will count down monthly until we analyze the top U.S. inbound NVO in December. Data is derived from Zepol’s database, which uses U.S. Customs data direct from carrier bills of lading as they are entered in the Automated Manifest System.
   The top 12 U.S. inbound NVOs for this series were determined based on their total volume in 2011, though the statistics provided by Zepol will be updated monthly so that each NVO will be examined based on the most recent 12-month period.
   This month, we’ll look at Honour Lane Shipping Corp., a Hong Kong-based NVO founded in 1997.
   In the latest 12 month period (February 2011 through January 2012), Honour Lane had U.S. inbound volume of 112,948 TEUs. U.S. inbound volume rose 4.7 percent in 2011 and increased 34.7 percent over its volume in 2009.
   More than 84 percent of Honour Lane’s volume in the past 12 months has originated from China – little surprise given the company’s strong ties throughout the country. It operates from 11 offices in China, as well one in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
   Vietnam (4,820 TEUs) and Hong Kong (3,496 TEUs) were next biggest source areas of Honour Lane’s volume.
   In terms of U.S. ports of arrival for Honour Lane cargo, Long Beach was the most commonly used gateway in every month in 2011 as well as January 2012, though the gap between Long Beach and second-placed Los Angeles narrowed beginning in October. In all, 68,358 TEUs, 60.5 percent, of Honour Lane’s volume moved through the Southern California ports in the last 12 months. New York/New Jersey saw 17,534 TEUs, or 15.5 percent.
   Honour Lane’s volume predominantly rides on three different ocean carriers – Mediterranean Shipping Co, Maersk Line, and COSCO Container Lines. Those three lines account for 48.9 percent of the NVO’s volume in the past 12 months, with MSC handling 29.3 percent on its own. MSC handled more of Honour Lane’s cargo than all other carriers in each of the last 12 months, though its share of the company’s volume has receded since the middle of 2011.
   In May 2011, MSC handled 32.7 percent of Honour Lane’s volume, but that share dropped to 28.3 percent in January. Conversely, Maersk handled only 8.9 percent of its volume in May 2011, but handled 16.5 percent by January.
   The top 10 carriers used by Honour Lane in the last 12 months accounted for 76.6 percent of its volume in that time.

(Click to see full-sized charts.)