Hyundai Glovis steps up air freight push to boost K-culture exports

Hyundai Glovis is ramping up its air forwarding operations to support overseas exports from South Korean beauty and entertainment companies, positioning itself as a key logistics partner for the K-culture wave.

The company announced Thursday that it has secured and is currently executing air freight contracts for APR cosmetics bound for Los Angeles, London and Amsterdam, as well as SM Entertainment albums destined for Chicago and other North American cities.

Acting as a freight forwarder, Hyundai Glovis oversees the entire transport chain — packaging, customs clearance, loading and final delivery. The company also negotiates directly with airlines to secure optimal flight routes and schedules, offering clients a more efficient service.

Air transport offers advantages including faster delivery and easier management of temperature and humidity conditions during transit.

Cosmetics shipments require specialized packaging to prevent leakage and absorb shocks, and in some cases must meet hazardous-materials packaging standards, such as the use of safety-certified containers.

Exports must also comply with country-specific regulations, including the US Food and Drug Administration's requirements and the EU's Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals regime. Hyundai Glovis provides tailored services to ensure shipments clear these requirements smoothly.

For album shipments, the company applies a no-stacking policy throughout both ground and air transport legs from origin to destination. For newly released K-pop albums, strict security protocols are enforced along the entire delivery route to prevent information from leaking ahead of release.

In the first half of this year alone, Hyundai Glovis secured contracts to transport hundreds of tons of APR cosmetics to North America and Europe, and SM Entertainment albums to North America and other markets.

According to Korea Customs Service trade statistics, South Korea's cosmetics exports to 58 European countries in the first half of this year reached 2.31 trillion won ($1.67 billion), nearly doubling in two years.

K-pop album exports in the same period surged 125 percent year-on-year to a record 382.3 billion won. The United States was the top destination, absorbing 110.1 billion won worth of albums — more than any other country.

With global e-commerce expansion fueling growth in the air forwarding market, Hyundai Glovis plans to broaden its presence in the sector. The company has already moved beyond general consumer goods into fine art logistics, shipping works by British contemporary artist Damien Hirst to London last month.

Hyundai Glovis intends to build its air forwarding business around K-culture staples — beauty products and entertainment content — as well as other high-value consumer goods.

To that end, the company will deepen its operational capabilities using its Incheon International Airport logistics center as the anchor of its air freight infrastructure. In 2024, it also strengthened its position in air logistics by contributing 200.6 billion won to an acquisition fund for Air Zeta — formerly Air Incheon — as part of Asiana Airlines' cargo division takeover.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Glovis is accelerating its push to expand its non-affiliate customer base, having recently signed a series of transport contracts with major Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturers.