JOC Staff | Sep 25, 2019 4:04PM EDT

NVOs accounted for 43.7 percent (3.45 million TEU) of the approximately 7.9 million total TEU in US imports from Asia in the first half of 2019. Photo credit: Sky Cinema/Shutterstock.com.
Correction: A previous version of this story cited total US import volume and market share metrics for non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) instead of US import from Asia figures. JOC regrets the error.
The market share of United States imports from Asia booked through non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOs) slipped for the first time in three years in the first half of 2019, according to data from PIERS, a JOC.com sister company within IHS Markit.
NVO moves accounted for 43.7 percent (3.45 million TEU) of the approximately 7.9 million total TEU of containerized freight imported into the United States from Asia through June, down 1.1 percentage points from 44.8 percent in the same six-month period in 2018, but still up 2.5 points from 41.2 percent in 2015.
Expeditors Internationl of Seattle, Washington, handled the largest combined share of US imports from Asia in the first half, followed by San Francisco-based Apex Group, and Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based C.H. Robinson.
All five of the top NVOs in the trade saw their volumes decline on a year-over-year basis during the period. Expeditors' market share of US imports from Asia fell from 0.5 percentage points to 4.6 percent in the first half, while Apex Group dropped 0.6 percentage points to 4.6 percent, C.H. Robinson declined 0.3 points to 4.6 percent, OEC Group remained roughly the same at 4.3 percent, and Kuehne + Nagel International slipped 0.1 points to 3.7 percent.
Among the top 25, Hong Kong's Cohesion Freight was the fastest-growing NVO in the trade. Cohesion Freight’s volumes surged 35.9 percent year over year to 31,060 TEU, pushing the forwarder’s market share up 0.2 points to 0.9 percent. Sri Lanka-based SeaMaster Logistics, Inc., meanwhile, saw the largest decline, as a 31.7 percent drop in volume resulted in a 0.6-point decrease in US import market share to 1.4 percent.
Although the deal is not expected to be completed until the fourth quarter, DSV’s $4.6 billion purchase of Swiss-based rival Panalpina will change the rankings considerably next year. Based on current volumes, the combined DSV-Panalpina would have had a 1.5 percent share of the US import market from Asia in the first half, catapulting the company to No. 13 on the list, ahead of UPS Supply Chain Solutions and close behind European competitors DHL and DB Schenker.
JOC.com’s Top 25 US Import NVO rankings are compiled using data from PIERS. Volume figures are expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). One standard 40-foot ocean container equals two TEU. Non-containerized cargoes — i.e. dry bulk, liquid bulk, roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro), and oversized/heavy-lift project freight — are not included.
Rankings compiled by Marcin Lejk, data analyst.
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TEU VOLUME | Percent VOLUME CHANGE | US imports from Asia Market share | |||||||
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NON-VESSEL-OPERATING COMMON CARRIER (NVO) | Global Headquarters | H1 2019 | FROM H1 2018 | H1 2015 | H1 2016 | H1 2017 | H1 2018 | H1 2019 | |
1 | Expeditors International | Seattle, Washington | 160,540 | -10.1% | 5.9% | 5.7% | 5.6% | 5.1% | 4.6% |
2 | Apex Group | San Francisco, California | 159,778 | -11.5% | 4.6% | 4.8% | 4.8% | 5.2% | 4.6% |
3 | C.H. Robinson | Eden Prairie, Minnesota | 159,080 | -8.0% | 5.1% | 4.9% | 5.3% | 4.9% | 4.6% |
4 | OEC Group | Taipei, Taiwan | 149,430 | -1.6% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
5 | Kuehne + Nagel International | Schindellegi, Feusisberg, Switzerland | 127,792 | -3.5% | 3.9% | 3.7% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.7% |
6 | Honour Lane Shipping | Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong | 106,659 | 2.2% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.1% |
7 | The Topocean Group | City of Industry, California | 85,750 | -7.8% | 2.2% | 2.6% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 2.5% |
8 | Hecny Shipping | Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong | 68,895 | -11.0% | 2.1% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 2.0% |
9 | De Well | Vernon, California | 60,837 | -2.0% | 0.0% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.8% | 1.8% |
10 | DHL | Bonn, Germany | 56,336 | 4.8% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% |
11 | DB Schenker | Essen, Germany | 54,790 | -5.3% | 1.8% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
12 | MCL Multi Container Line | Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong | 53,217 | 6.4% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.5% |
13 | UPS Supply Chain Solutions Inc. | Alpharetta, Georgia | 49,249 | 10.9% | 1.9% | 1.7% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
14 | SeaMaster Logistics Inc. | Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | 47,252 | -31.7% | 1.7% | 2.7% | 1.8% | 2.0% | 1.4% |
15 | China International Freight Co. | Taipei, Taiwan | 46,104 | -9.5% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.3% |
16 | Orient Star Transport Intl. Ltd. | Kwai Chung, Hong Kong | 45,895 | 5.3% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% |
17 | Panalpina | Basel, Switzerland | 44,622 | 17.4% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.3% |
18 | Translink Shipping | Seattle, Washington | 36,343 | -10.2% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.1% |
19 | Pudong Prime International Logistics | Shanghai, China | 33,886 | 29.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 1.0% |
20 | FedEx Trade Networks | Buffalo, New York | 32,378 | -9.3% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.9% |
21 | Cohesion Freight (H.K.) | Kowloon, Hong Kong | 31,060 | 35.9% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.9% |
22 | Kintetsu World Express | Tokyo, Japan | 30,124 | 14.8% | 0.6% | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.9% |
23 | Yusen Logistics | Tokyo, Japan | 29,907 | -21.1% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 0.9% |
24 | Safround logistics | Ningbo, China | 28,720 | 3.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.8% |
25 | DFDS Group | Copenhagen, Denmark | 28,633 | -7.2% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.8% |
Total JOC Top 25 NVOs by US imports from Asia | 1,727,279 | -4.5% | 49.6% | 51.3% | 51.7% | 51.7% | 50.0% | ||
Total US import from Asia NVOs | 3,453,094 | -1.2% |
*Panalpina was purchased by DSV A/S in April 2019 Source: PIERS |
Comments
This volume seems a little
I think there're still some
This is awesome - thanks JOC!