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Hyundai Motor said on Friday (April 3, 2026) that exports to Europe and North Africa, which typically transit through the West Asia, were being disrupted by the struggle successful the region, underscoring increasing strains connected planetary proviso chains.
The disruption highlights however the struggle is choking cardinal shipping routes, driving up logistics costs, delaying deliveries and adding unit connected the automaker and its suppliers.
Hyundai Motor, the world’s third-biggest automaker by income with its affiliate Kia Corp, warned that adjacent if the Iran warfare ended soon the impact would linger. Kim Dong-jo, a elder vice president astatine Hyundai Motor’s Global Policy Office, said rebuilding proviso chains would instrumentality time.
“Even if the struggle ends, it volition instrumentality a sizeable magnitude of clip to rebuild and reconstruct existing proviso chains,” said Mr. Kim, who was speaking astatine Pyeongtaek-Dangjin Port, southwest of the superior Seoul, wherever authorities officials, logistics firms and automakers met to measure the interaction of the war.
The gathering took spot astatine the larboard wherever cars were lined up connected the wharf to beryllium shipped connected a elephantine conveyance carrier, acceptable to transportation astir 4,900 vehicles and bound for the U.S. westbound coast.
Mr. Kim said rising logistics costs and earthy worldly constraints linked to the struggle were also pressuring parts suppliers and production, adding that Hyundai was moving with suppliers and the authorities to minimise disruption.
Hyundai Motor Group’s logistics unit, Hyundai Glovis , said it was presently incapable to entree immoderate West Asia routes, forcing it to temporarily store cargo astatine alternate locations until conditions stabilise.
The institution said that while routes to North America’s westbound and eastbound coasts person not been importantly affected truthful far, restricted entree to the Middle East and higher substance costs were hampering operations and efficiency.
South Korea’s Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo told the gathering that immoderate shipments were being diverted to intermediate hubs specified arsenic Sri Lanka, wherever they are being held portion companies reassess erstwhile transport tin resume.
Last month, Reuters reported that immoderate used car exports from Japan were incapable to participate Sri Lanka arsenic ports became congested with cargo diverted from Dubai amid the West Asia conflict.
South Korea’s exports successful March posted their strongest maturation successful astir 4 decades, but shipments to the West Asia fell 49%. Auto exports were small changed, arsenic proviso disruptions offset beardown request for environmentally affable vehicles.
Hyundai Motor said connected Thursday (April 2, 2026) it sold 358,759 vehicles globally successful March, down 2.3% from a twelvemonth earlier, with home income falling 2.0% and overseas income declining 2.4%.
Shares of Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Glovis closed down 1.2% and 0.7%, respectively, connected Friday (April 3, 2026) versus benchmark KOSPI’s 2.7% rise.
