South Korean freight forwarder Taewoong Logistics is eyeing a share of the tank container market amid growing shipments in this segment.
In April 2020, Taewoong opened a tank container manufacturing plant in Yangsan. The company was listed on the Korea Exchange’s secondary board KOSDAQ in December 2019 and the proceeds are being used for business expansion, including the provision and shipping of tank containers.
Taewoong said it is planning to transport more liquid cargoes based on its expertise in carrying out containerised petrochemical cargo transportation.
Currently, most of the cargoes transported by Taewoong, including chemical products, are shipped in standard containers. Liquid cargoes are of higher value because it is more difficult to transport than solid cargoes.
By investing in a tank container manufacturing facility, Taewoong hopes that the vertical integration will attract more customers.
Taewoong has built up a substantial logistics network, with over 400 overseas subsidiaries and business partners. The company believes that it can offer more competitive freight charges once the volume of tank containers is increased.
The company’s CEO, Han Jae-dong, said, “We will strengthen our position as a provider of integrated logistics services that can provide a wide range of services with the expansion of our tank container offering, in order to better transport liquid cargoes.”
The International Tank Container Organisation’s (ITCO) latest survey estimates that, at 1 January 2020, the global tank container fleet had reached 652,350 units worldwide, up from 604,700 a year ago.
ITCO president Reg Lee noted: “The market has continued to expand – due to a large extent to the continued successful conversion of certain cargoes – previously shipped in drums or transported in chemical tankers – to tank containers. In addition, China continued to see significant growth in the use of tank containers for domestic transport of bulk liquids, while intra-Asia – especially Southeast Asia – tank container operations continue to develop strongly.”
Taewoong reported net profits of KRW9.6 billion (US$8.3 million) for 2019, a 31% year-on-year gain.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
