NEWS FLASH: Some NVOs played chicken with Hanjin situation

Datamyne provided American Shipper with statistics illustrating how some non-vessel-operating common carriers pulled U.S. import volume from Hanjin ships prior to August, while others ramped up their use of the financially stricken carrier.    Hanjin Shipping’s plunge into receivership has caused a great deal of chaos for non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) around the world, but it appears some NVOs saw the writing on the wall prior to August.
   According to import statistics provided to American Shipper by the trade data provider Datamyne, a number of major NVOs all but pulled their U.S. import volume from Hanjin sailings prior to August, while some other NVOs doubled down on their use of the troubled South Korean shipping line in the weeks leading up to the carrier’s apparent collapse.

NVO Exposure to Hanjin

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   For example, Datamyne figures show that Expeditors booked no U.S. import freight with Hanjin in August, despite using the carrier for 4.6 percent of its total 2016 U.S. import volume through August.
   Similarly, Danmar Lines, DHL’s in-house NVO, used Hanjin for only 2 percent of its August U.S. import volume, compared to 4.9 percent of its 2016 volume through August.
   Interglobo, meanwhile, only used Hanjin for 0.1 percent of its August U.S. import volume, compared to 25.3 percent of its 2016 volume through August.
   On the other hand, a number of Asia-based NVOs significantly ramped up their use of Hanjin during the month. Orient Express Container went from using Hanjin for 19.8 percent of its U.S. import volume to 29.1 percent in August. Orient Star Transport went from using Hanjin for only 0.3 percent of its U.S. import volume throughout 2016 to 26.9 percent in August.
   Translink Shipping increased its use of Hanjin as well, with 25 percent of its total 2016 volume moving with the carrier rising to 30.8 percent in August.
   Orient Express and Orient Star are Hanjin’s first and third largest NVO customers for U.S. import trade thus far in 2016, with Expeditors second, Translink fourth and Danmar eighth.
   FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx’s NVO subsidiary, also increased its use of Hanjin in August, from 3.5 of its U.S. import volume for all of 2016 to 5.1 percent in August.
   According to Datamyne figures, nearly a third of Hanjin’s 691,000 TEUs of U.S. import volume year-to-date was provided by NVOs.