Hyundai Glovis joins Philadelphia port expansion, eyes vehicle terminal operations

Hyundai Glovis plans to extend its dedicated site contract at the Port of Philadelphia — a key finished-vehicle logistics hub on the US East Coast — through 2056, using the move as a springboard to develop new facilities and enter the vehicle terminal operations business.

Hyundai Glovis announced Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and a local developer to cooperate on expanding the port and operating a finished-vehicle terminal.

The port authority is pursuing a large-scale expansion project to develop both finished-vehicle and container terminals. Hyundai Glovis will participate as a cooperation partner on the vehicle side, securing dedicated berths for car carriers and entering the terminal operations business. The MOU also covers acquiring new vehicle logistics space within the port and extending the existing site contract through 2056.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, along with state government and port authority officials, attended the Philadelphia port expansion announcement event on Tuesday. The event unveiled plans to expand container and vehicle terminals and outlined a public-private cooperation framework, with Hyundai Glovis introduced as a key private-sector partner in the port's development.

Hyundai Glovis has operated finished-vehicle import and export logistics at the Port of Philadelphia since 2010. In 2019, it expanded its footprint by opening Southport, a dedicated vehicle yard spanning about 640,000 square meters.

The company currently operates roughly 1 million square meters of vehicle logistics space at the port, with a storage capacity of about 33,600 vehicles. Once new site development is complete, the operational area is expected to grow to approximately 1.12 million square meters, with vehicle storage capacity rising to 37,600 units.

The Port of Philadelphia has served as Hyundai Glovis's East Coast logistics hub and played an important role in stabilizing its global supply chain. When the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2024 halted operations at that port, Hyundai Glovis used Philadelphia as an alternative logistics base to maintain uninterrupted vehicle shipments.

Hyundai Glovis plans to add car carrier terminal operations to its existing vehicle transport and storage business, broadening its service portfolio. The company said it will strengthen its end-to-end integrated logistics service — spanning maritime transport, terminal operations, storage and inland delivery — to sharpen its competitiveness in the North American market.

Beyond finished vehicles, the company also plans to expand into high-and-heavy cargo such as commercial vehicles and construction equipment, engineering, procurement and construction project logistics, and transatlantic route services.

"We plan to develop Philadelphia into a core hub of the East Coast logistics supply chain in the United States," a Hyundai Glovis official said. "Through this, we will provide customers with more stable and efficient integrated logistics services."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Glovis has also signed an MOU with US logistics and shipping company Liberty Global Logistics to jointly explore operating car carrier routes between South Korea and the United States using small modular reactor-powered vessels, as the company actively pursues business expansion for sustainable growth.