HMM tops California orange imports to Korea for 4th straight year with 42% market share

HMM said Wednesday it has ranked first in transporting California-grown oranges imported into Korea for the fourth consecutive year.

According to Piers Data from JOC, a US maritime research firm, HMM carried 42 percent — or 3,060 twenty-foot equivalent units — of all California oranges imported into Korea this year, topping the sector.

The company has held the top spot for four consecutive years since recording a 25 percent market share (2,380 TEU) in 2023. Despite an overall decline in orange import volumes, HMM has steadily grown its share through stable container supply management and vessel schedule control.

Fresh cargo such as oranges is transported in reefer containers capable of refrigeration and freezing. Because produce must stay fresh over long ocean voyages, it is classified as high-value cargo requiring exacting management.

HMM is also actively pursuing new markets. The company has been moving premium cargo — such as Washington cherries, which previously traveled by air — safely by sea, while also using reefer containers to ship growing export volumes of K-food and K-cosmetics products driven by the global Korean culture wave.

More recently, HMM has been transporting exports of domestically caught small mackerel through a newly launched West Africa feeder network built on a hub-and-spoke strategy. Small mackerel has limited appeal in Korea, but it suits African culinary traditions of cooking whole fish and is more price-competitive than Nordic varieties, making it more popular in local markets than Russian or Japanese alternatives.

"As reefer container transport technology advances, the range of cargo is diversifying and the pace of change is accelerating," an HMM official said. "We plan to improve profitability by expanding into new high-value markets."

Meanwhile, HMM is stepping up its push into the global logistics market after operating a dedicated booth at Breakbulk Europe 2026, Europe's largest specialized cargo exhibition, held last month in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.