KDB Mulls 50 Bln Won in Loan to Hanjin Shipping

“U.S. businesses rely on predictability in their supply chains, particularly during the busiest shipping season of the year”, wrote NRF and the other coalition members. The South Korean government has asked courts to protect Hanjin ships from being seized in several European countries and plans to request the same from Australia, India and the United Arab Emirates.

Under Seoul court receivership, Hanjin must submit a business revival plan by November 25 before the court decides whether to put it under a recovery programme or declare it bankrupt.

BEIJING • Bank of China’s (BOC’s) NY branch will be the first yuan-clearing bank in the United States, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced in a statement on its website yesterday.

“In Korea alone, large companies such as Samsung, LG, Kia and Hyundai are unable to ship their products to North America”, adds the researcher. Hanjin Group has pledged to inject a total of 100 billion won to help the shipping line.

Industry watchers see the tighter scrutiny as a maneuver to pressure owners and Hanjin affiliates to chip in more funds to reduce the ongoing supply chain disruption caused by Hanjin Shipping’s debt troubles.

The court said that there was no way of keeping Hanjin afloat if cargo owners file compensation claims against the shipper over their unloaded goods, according to the KDB official.

Hanjin is the seventh-largest shipping company in the world.

Shares in the firm plunged 10.3 per cent in Seoul to close at 1,130 won.

Hanjin Shipping debt at end of June estimated at 6 trillion won ($5.4 billion).

“In the event the application to have the ship released is not granted, Port Authority is advised that the Federal Court is likely to commence the process to sell the ship”.

The court has advised Hanjin to return all chartered vessels to cut costs as the fees amounted to about $2 million a day. Of the Seoul-based liner’s 97 container ships, 60 were chartered.

On Tuesday, the National Retail Federation and the National Hardwood Lumber Association joined with more than 100 other US business groups to urge Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to work with the South Korean government to resolve disruptions in the holiday season supply chain caused by the bankruptcy of the world’s seventh-largest container ship company.