U.S. Wine Retailers & Drinkers to Feel Little Holiday Pain from Hanjin Bankruptcy

In contrast to the abject fears of cell phone, toy and computer retailers, drinkers of imported wine and their favorite stores are unlikely to feel any noticeable holiday pain from the insolvency of South Korean-based Hanjin shipping lines. What’s more, the bankruptcy is also likely to have little effect on U.S. wine exports.

 

 

Hanjin’s insolvency has left many container ships idle at sea by ports which have refused it permission to dock for fear it cannot pay its bills.

 

Companies waiting on shipments currently aboard Hanjin vessels are hopeful of relief from bankruptcy court negotiations plus possible financial support from the shipping line’s parent company and the South Korean government. According to today’s Wall Street Journal, as much as $14 billion worth of products are floating in limbo.

 

By capacity, Hanjin Shipping is Korea’s largest maritime shipper and the seventh largest in the world. It carries an estimated 8% of trans-Pacific trade.

Hanjin share of U.S. imports: 1.3%

Hanjin handles about 1.3% of U.S. wine imports, according to trade data company Datamyne, which ranks it 14th of all carriers of U.S. wine imports. According to Datamyne, the top-10 are: (in order of TEUs — Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) are:

 

1. MSC-MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY S A
2. HAPAG LLOYD A G
3. CMA-CGM
4. HAMBURG SUD
5. UNITED ARAB SHIPPING CO SAG
6. MAERSK LINE
7. ZIM INTEGRATED SHIPPING SERVICES LTD
8. EVERGREEN LINE
9. ORIENT OVERSEAS CONTAINER LINE LTD
10. APL CO PTE LTD-NOL GROUP

Hanjin share of U.S. exports: 1.9%

Hanjin has a similarly small — 1.9% — part of outbound wine exports from the U.S. West Coast, according to maritime trade data company IHS Markit.

 

According to the Wine Institute, 90% of those exports come from California. Washington and Oregon account for most of the remaining 10%.

 

Import and export shipping data is released and gathered in substantially different ways for imports and exports. Wine Industry Insight hopes to have additional export data in the future.