'Ally-Temu Effect' Hanjin to Double Customs Clearance at Incheon Airport GDC

Hanjin Co., Ltd. is doubling the scale of its self-operated customs clearance facility at Incheon Airport Global Distribution Center (GDC) to respond to the growing demand for overseas direct purchases following the entry of major Chinese platforms such as AliExpress and Temu into Korea.

Hanjin Co., Ltd. announced on the 15th that it received final approval for the execution plan related to the expansion of the self-operated customs clearance facility at Incheon Airport GDC from the Incheon Airport Headquarters Customs Office and began expansion construction on the 5th.

The facility investment scale is approximately 10 billion KRW. Hanjin plans to complete preparations in the second half of this year and start full-scale operations before the end of the year.

With this construction, the scale of Hanjin’s self-operated customs clearance facility will increase from the existing 1.1 million boxes per month to 2.2 million boxes per month, doubling its capacity. This accounts for 26% of the total domestic air express volume of 8.4 million shipments per month (as of February 2024).

Hanjin Incheon Airport GDC
Photo by Hanjin

The size of Korea’s overseas direct purchase market reached a record high with about 96 million shipments (6.2 trillion KRW) in 2022 and 100 million shipments (6.6 trillion KRW) in 2023.

On the other hand, domestic air customs clearance facilities handle about 90% of the volume through Incheon Airport Customs and four domestic customs clearance centers. Although Hanjin expanded the self-operated customs clearance facility at Incheon Airport GDC once in 2022, full operation has been achieved within the year due to increased volume from China in the second half of last year.

Accordingly, Hanjin decided to invest in facilities. The goal is to secure the capacity to handle 30% of the current air express volume. By maximizing the space utilization of the existing customs clearance facility, they plan to double the processing volume and differentiate their competitiveness in cross-border parcel delivery.

A Hanjin official said, "Through swift investment decisions, we are continuously expanding infrastructure so that consumers can conveniently enjoy overseas direct purchases," adding, "We will actively respond to market demand and lead the cross-border parcel delivery market."