Carrier HMM to be sold
It was the state of South Korea that invested heavily in HMM, at the time still Hyundai Mechant Marine, through its subsidiary Korea Development Bank (KDB).
The state-owned unit, amongst others, bought up to KRW 1 trillion (USD 883.8 million) of bonds in 2018 from HMM, so that the carrier could invest in 20 new mega ships to be built at the Daewoo wharfs.
Now, the bank's plan is to privatise HMM by sale to the steel company Posco headquartered in Pohan. HMM, now ranked among the world's top ten of shipping companies, will see its tonnage grow by about 850,000 teu when all eight 16,000 teu ships under construction by Hyundai Heavy Industries will be delivered in the first half of 2021. HMM aims to attain its goal of one million teu by 2022. (cd)