Sooeun Supports $30 Million for HMM Container 34,000 TEU Acquisition

The First Domestic Case of Loan Support Based on the Collateral Value of Containers Themselves

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The Export-Import Bank of Korea announced on the 17th that it will provide $30 million to secure 34,000 TEU (1 TEU = one 20ft standard container) of containers needed for HMM's ultra-large container ships.

The bank is providing senior loans, Multi-Asset Asset Management is managing a $10 million subordinated fund, and Mirae Asset Securities is participating as the financial arranger in a "policy finance-private finance collaboration" structure.

An SPC established domestically will act as both borrower and container owner, and HMM will lease containers from the SPC for five years and purchase the containers at the end of the contract period through a financial lease method.

Recently, container freight rates have surged to record highs due to increased global cargo volume, port congestion caused by COVID-19, and container shortages. Our companies are facing increasing difficulties as they cannot send export cargo on time despite bearing high freight costs.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), which aggregates freight rates for 15 container shipping routes, recorded 3095 as of the 7th, more than tripling from the low of 818 in April last year. National shipping companies such as HMM continue to deploy temporary vessels to support export companies. In this situation, by additionally securing containers to be used on eight 16,000 TEU-class container ships of HMM, it is expected to greatly assist the operation of routes to the U.S. and Europe, where our companies' exports are concentrated, thereby contributing to resolving export logistics difficulties.

In particular, this support is the first case in Korea to register a security interest on movable property containers and provide loans based on the collateral value of the containers themselves. A bank official said, "We expect that this case will expand the registration of container security interests and the base of container collateral value domestically, making it easier for national shipping companies, which have less financial capacity compared to global shipping companies, to raise funds for container purchases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.