NVO countdown – No. 12

   Welcome to the first in a monthly look at 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 De Well Container Shipping Corp., a Shanghai-based NVO founded in 1984.

De Well Container Shipping Corp: Ranked 12th NVO for U.S. Vessel Imports in 2011 U.S. vessel imports by De Well Container Shipping Corp posted a 12% decrease in inbound TEUs from 2010 to 2011. The NVO sources the majority of the imports from China. In the last quarter of 2011, the Port of Los Angeles outpaced imports into the Port of Long Beach for the first time in 2011.

   In 2011, De Well had U.S. inbound volume of 111,853 TEUs, down 12 percent from 2010.
   An overwhelming preponderance of that volume (more than 97 percent) came from China, including Hong Kong. The next biggest source, South Korea, provided less than 1 percent od De Well’s volume.
   In terms of U.S. ports of arrival for De Well cargo, in the fourth quarter of 2011, Los Angeles overtook Long Beach as the most frequent destination for De Well cargo. Up until that point, Long Beach was the most common arrival port for De Well in five of the previous seven quarters.
   The steep rise in arrivals at Los Angeles is likely due to De Well’s significant use of Hyundai Merchant Marine, which in 2011 shifted its terminal from Long Beach to Los Angeles.
   Among other ports, New York/New Jersey and Oakland were the third and fourth most common destinations for De Well cargo.
   De Well uses three operators (Hyundai, Maersk Line, and Mediterranean Shipping Co.) for more than 68 percent of its volume, with its use of Maersk increasing as 2011 wore on. In the second quarter, more than a quarter of De Well’s volume was handled by MSC, but by the fourth quarter that receded to around 17 percent.
   In the second quarter Maersk was used for around 15 percent of De Well’s volume, but that rose to 26 percent in the fourth quarter.
   For the year, MSC was De Well’s most favored carrier, moving 24,333 TEU with the line, compared to 22,350 TEUs with Hyundai and 19,685 with Maersk.

(Click the chart to view data from 2010.)