[Alpha Biz= Kim Sangjin] LX Pantos announced on Tuesday that it has established a joint venture, Box Links, with Ocean Network Express (ONE), Japan’s largest shipping company, to enter the U.S. intermodal market.
Box Links was set up as a joint venture (JV) with LX Pantos holding 51% and ONE owning 49%. The two companies have been collaborating since 2023 with a shared goal of targeting the North American logistics market. After nearly two years of preparations, the JV was officially established. ONE, launched in 2017 by the merger of Japan's three major container shipping companies (NYK, MOL, K-Line), is headquartered in Singapore and ranks 6th in the global shipping industry.
Through Box Links, the two companies will aggressively pursue the intermodal business in the U.S. Intermodal transport combines rail and truck services to offer more efficient shipping.
The U.S., the world’s largest consumer market, relies heavily on containerized imports, with much of the goods arriving by container. However, half of the containers unloaded at U.S. ports are often returned empty, as they fail to be filled with export goods, leading to logistics inefficiencies and unnecessary costs.
Box Links plans to address this issue by utilizing empty containers in the inland transportation of cargo across the U.S. Once empty containers are returned, they will be loaded onto rail or trucks to carry inland freight, creating additional revenue from this process.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
