Michele Majidi
Researcher
HMM - statistics & facts
HMM (formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine) is a South Korean freight shipping company founded in 1976 with headquarters in Seoul. Over the decades, it has become the leading national container shipping company. On the global stage, HMM has been enjoying a relatively stable position: In 2023, HMM controlled three percent of the global container fleet. The company thus ranked eighth in terms of the capacity of their container ships and was overtaken by shipping giants such as MSC and Maersk, as well as by mid-tier companies such as Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Hapag-Lloyd.
As of May 2023, HMM operated 74 container ships with a combined capacity of nearly 810,000 TEUs. Some of the vessels in HMM’s fleet were one of the largest container ships ever built.
In 2022, THE Alliance controlled about 544 container ships with a total capacity of 3.97 million TEUs, the least of the three alliances. This corresponds to about 15 percent of the global container fleet capacity.
In 2022, Evergreen generated a revenue of 20.5 billion U.S. dollars, while ZIM generated about 12.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenue.
* Converted from 627.3 billion New Taiwan dollars as of May 23, 2023.
HMM teaming up with Hapag-Lloyd and ONE
In the past years, the global shipping industry has become increasingly consolidated among a few key players. This process culminated in 2017 when three major shipping alliances were formed: the 2M Alliance, Ocean Alliance, and THE Alliance. HMM was part of the 2M Alliance between 2017 and 2020, joining forces with Maersk and MSC, and in 2021, HMM joined THE Alliance. Currently, THE Alliance’s members include the Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd, Japanese ONE, Taiwanese Yang Ming, and HMM.In 2022, THE Alliance controlled about 544 container ships with a total capacity of 3.97 million TEUs, the least of the three alliances. This corresponds to about 15 percent of the global container fleet capacity.
Main competitors of HMM
HMM competes with the industry’s heavyweights—such as MSC, APM-Maersk, CMA CGM, and COSCO—and with mid-tier shipping lines—such as Evergreen and Zim. As of May 2023, Evergreen and Zim controlled 6.2 and 2.2 percent of the global container fleet.In 2022, Evergreen generated a revenue of 20.5 billion U.S. dollars, while ZIM generated about 12.6 billion U.S. dollars in revenue.
* Converted from 627.3 billion New Taiwan dollars as of May 23, 2023.
