Hyundai Glovis Enters Chinese Cold Chain Market... Operating aT Qingdao Logistics Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Hyundai Glovis is entering the rapidly growing Chinese cold chain (cold chain: frozen and refrigerated logistics) business. On the 13th, Hyundai Glovis announced that it had been selected as the operator of the China Qingdao (靑島) logistics center established by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT). The operation of the aT Qingdao logistics center will be handled by Beijing Glovis, Hyundai Glovis's China subsidiary, which established a logistics network locally since 2005.

The Qingdao logistics center is a complex logistics facility first established overseas by aT in 2015 to expand exports of Korean agro-fisheries products. It has a total floor area of 13,669㎡ and consists of warehouses equipped with frozen, refrigerated, and room temperature systems, as well as office buildings. It can handle about 20,000 tons of cargo annually. Through operating the Qingdao logistics center, Hyundai Glovis will support the supply of Korean agricultural products to the Chinese market for five years until 2025, including sea transportation, customs clearance, warehousing, and inland transportation.

Korean agricultural products arriving at the Qingdao logistics center are stored in the warehouse for 7 to 30 days for transportation within China, and Hyundai Glovis systematically manages this to ensure delivery to major cities across China. In particular, Hyundai Glovis plans to strengthen the cold chain transportation network established in 20 major Chinese cities together with aT.

Hyundai Glovis's move to target the Chinese cold chain market is due to the rapid growth of the related business recently. In fact, the Chinese cold chain market, which was worth 180 billion yuan (about 31 trillion won) in 2015, sharply rose to 339 billion yuan (about 58 trillion won) last year.

Starting with acquiring the operation rights this time, Hyundai Glovis plans to perform logistics tasks for local fresh food as well as Korean agricultural products in the future. A Hyundai Glovis official said, "We will fully demonstrate our capabilities as a global logistics company in the rapidly growing Chinese cold chain market." Reporter Yu Je-hoon kalamal@