This file photo taken Aug. 29, 2022, shows a port in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul, packed with cars set to be exported. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Renault Korea Motors and SsangYong Motor Co. are struggling to ship vehicles abroad due to a shortage of car carriers.
At Renault Korea’s Busan factory yard, thousands of cars are piled up, waiting for shipment.
Car carriers from Europe are shipping the cars twice a month but the number of cars on the waiting list is growing due to a shortage of capacity.
SsangYong is shipping cars that cannot be loaded on car carriers via container ships.
The company transports the cars produced in Pyeongtaek to Busan via inland routes and then moves them to the Busan New Port to ship them via container ships.
Given that a single container can house only two or three cars, the cost is higher, while the work efficiency is lower.
Car carrier freight rates have jumped due to the explosive growth in demand worldwide.
According to the shipping industry, the daily charter rate for a 6,000 car equivalent units (CEU) vessel jumped to US$100,000 last year from $20,000 in 2021.
Against this backdrop, mid-sized carmakers are being hit hard by the hike in car carrier freight rates.
The country’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Group has no problem shipping cars abroad since it signed a long-term contract with its logistics subsidiary Hyundai Glovis Co.
In addition, shipping companies are giving Hyundai preference since its export volume is huge.
In contrast, Renault Korea and SsangYong cannot afford to charter a dedicated 6,000 CEU car carrier.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
