Hyundai Glovis wins string of contracts from Chinese manufacturers for battery, EV parts logistics

Hyundai Glovis said Monday it is accelerating its push to expand non-affiliate customers after securing a series of logistics contracts with Chinese manufacturers.

The company recently signed a transport contract with a leading Chinese battery maker. Under the agreement, Hyundai Glovis will ship electric vehicle batteries produced in southern China by sea to automakers' factories in Hungary, Spain and Italy.

Earlier, the company signed a contract with a major Chinese EV manufacturer to transport knockdown vehicle parts and press-shop equipment to a factory in Eastern Europe. Since the first half of this year, Hyundai Glovis has been collecting parts and equipment from factories and other shipping points in eastern China, then delivering them by sea to Slovenia and Croatia before trucking them to the final factory destination — an end-to-end service.

Hyundai Glovis also won a contract to handle vehicle disassembly and packaging for a Chinese automaker. Under the arrangement, the company takes delivery of finished vehicles produced in China, inspects them at a warehouse, disassembles and packages them, loads them into containers, and ships them via the Trans-China Railway to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other Central Asian destinations.

These projects draw on Hyundai Glovis's global logistics network and container forwarding system. Forwarding is a comprehensive logistics service covering the entire transport process from origin to destination.

Its pure car and truck carrier business is also growing. Hyundai Glovis ships finished vehicles from Chinese automakers to South America and other markets, and the volume of Chinese-origin vehicles transported via its PCTC fleet rose roughly 93 percent over three years — from about 260,000 units in 2023 to about 510,000 units in 2025.

"Under the confidentiality terms of our contracts with shippers, we cannot disclose specific volumes or freight rates, but we continue to win new business from Chinese companies through active sales efforts," a Hyundai Glovis official said.

The company is also stepping up its push into the Chinese market. In March, it participated in the World Breakbulk Expo (WBX) 2026 in Shanghai, showcasing its maritime capabilities through a fleet of more than 120 vessels including car carriers and bulk ships. It particularly highlighted its capacity to handle heavy and oversized cargo such as construction equipment and commercial vehicles. Hyundai Glovis recently established a dedicated team to strengthen that capability.

The expansion of Chinese volumes is part of a medium- to long-term strategy to raise the share of non-affiliate customers. At its 2024 CEO Investor Day, the company set a target of 40 trillion won ($27.2 billion) in sales by 2030 by growing its non-affiliate customer base on top of its affiliate business. Hyundai Glovis said it plans to continue expanding logistics partnerships with global mobility companies.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Glovis plans to focus on growing non-affiliate sales and improving cost efficiency in the second half of this year. The company intends to diversify its customer base across its logistics, shipping and retail divisions, while pursuing a profitability recovery in its shipping segment — where cost volatility is high — through freight rate protection and fleet operational efficiency.