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Port of Savannah. Photo: Ports of Georgia
By Alison Koo
Korea Ocean Business Corp (KOBC) is acquiring logistics centres in the US southern state of Georgia for South Korean e-commerce businesses that have entered the US market.
The state-backed ship finance institution last week announced the purchase of a 33,000 sq metre logistics facility in Atlanta, the first investment through the recently created $154m fund to procure US distribution hubs for South Korean merchants.
KOBC is also completing the purchase of a 25,000 sq metre logistics centre in Savannah, next to the city’s port, the third-largest in the US in terms of cargo volume, and close to Hyundai’s electric vehicle production site in Bryan County.
The finance institution’s latest acquisitions follow its investment in a 304,769 sq metre logistics facility in Dalton, also in Georgia, in March –a $120m venture co-funded by local 3PL LX Pantos.
Georgia is particularly important, as more than 100 South Korean companies, mainly in the automotive and battery sectors, have a presence there.
Elsewhere, KOBC is in talks to procure a 6,000 sq metre facility next to Malaysia’s Port Klang.
KOBC CEO Ahn Byung-gil said: “We hope this fund can help our forwarders and retailers to stabilise their supply chains.”
South Korean forwarders and retailers are seeking overseas assets “to respond to changing global circumstances, including near-shoring”, added KOBC, which expects 60% of the fund will be used up by year-end, and is considering a second round of financing.
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