Good day. This is LIAN GLOBAL LOGIS.

If you have recently registered as a used-car export dealer and have booked shipments of one Carnival and one Bongo to Middle Eastern and African buyers, you have likely experienced the situation where vehicles sit in the Busan Port or Pyeongtaek Port storage yard yet RoRo vessel (automobile-dedicated vessel) loading schedules remain unconfirmed for more than a month. The vehicles are ready, but the vessel is not available. Buyer remittance is held up, and storage charges accumulate on a daily basis.

The primary cause of this congestion is volume originating from China. According to China Customs Statistics for 2024, China's annual automobile exports reached 5.85 million units, representing approximately 19% growth year-over-year. A substantial portion consists of internal-combustion-engine SUVs and sedans displaced from domestic sales by the shift to electric vehicles. During the same period, the global RoRo fleet cannot be expanded in the short term due to order-to-delivery cycles. According to Clarksons Research 2024–2025 reports, PCTC (automobile-dedicated vessel) annual time-charter rates remain fixed at 4–5 times pre-pandemic levels. Consequently, RoRo vessel slots secured by global shipping lines are allocated first to large export players booking hundreds of units at a time, while new dealers attempting to ship 1–2 units are pushed to the back of the waiting list.

This shift destabilizes the quarterly profit-and-loss statement of new dealers on two fronts. First is revenue delay (Time) resulting from failure to secure vessel slots. Second is freight rate escalation (Cost) per container and per vehicle even when slots are obtained. A strategy focused exclusively on RoRo vessels, the same approach used by large enterprises, no longer works for new market entrants.

Used vehicles awaiting RoRo loading at Busan Port automobile terminal, with callout box indicating vessel slot shortage Accumulation of vehicles from new dealers deprioritized in RoRo vessel slot allocation

Current State of RoRo Vessel Slot Depletion

As of the second half of 2024, new booking waiting lists at the automobile terminals of Busan Port, Pyeongtaek Port, and Incheon Port have extended to an average of 3–6 weeks. The Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) 2024 Shipping Market Report diagnosed that PCTC vessel supply-demand imbalance is likely to persist through 2025.

The critical factor is shipping line allocation priority. Lines assign slots first to large exporters bundling 200–500 units per booking. New dealers attempting to fit only 1–2 units into the same sailing are deprioritized even after absorbing BAF and CAF surcharges. Storage yard holding charges accumulate at approximately 5,000–15,000 Korean won per vehicle per day, and delays in buyer L/C deadlines and T/T remittance collection timelines cascade, disrupting working capital rotation.

Operating under the same rules as large competitors in this environment does not merely result in losses; it risks failure to close the first transaction itself, jeopardizing buyer trust.

Cost and Time Impact Analysis — RoRo Waiting vs. Container Shoring

Comparing RoRo vessels with container shoring (loading and lashing vehicles in 40ft dry containers, then exporting via standard container vessels) on the same route and vehicle basis yields the following. The figures below are simplified examples of market average quotes for the Busan–Jebel Ali (UAE) route, single Carnival unit, first half of 2025.

Item	RoRo Waiting (2025-Q1)	Container Shoring (2025-Q1)	Difference	Impact on New Dealers
Vessel slot confirmation wait	3–6 weeks	7–14 days	Approximately 2–4 weeks shorter	Faster remittance collection
Ocean freight per vehicle	USD 1,400–1,800	USD 1,800–2,400	+USD 400–600	Unit rate increases
Storage holding charge (average)	15–30 days accumulated	3–7 days	−5 to −15 million won/unit	Holding cost reduction
Transit days	18–24 days	22–30 days	+Approximately 4–6 days	Slightly longer
Vehicle damage risk	High deck exposure and rehandling	Single container loading	Reduced	Claim risk ↓

On surface freight rates alone, container shoring appears USD 400–600 more expensive per vehicle. However, when combined with holding cost savings (5 to 15 million won per unit) and the working capital benefit of 2–4 week faster remittance collection, the net profit-and-loss outcome per unit for Carnival and Bongo often favors or equals container shoring.

For new dealers operating at 10–20 unit quarterly volumes, adhering to RoRo waiting with average 4-week shipping delays per quarter results in hidden losses of 15 to 30 million won per quarter when storage charges, financing costs, and buyer claims are combined (assuming average vehicle acquisition cost of 15 million won, 6% financing rate, and 10,000 won daily storage charge).

Infographic comparing cost and time impact of RoRo vessels versus container shoring Net profit-and-loss comparison including hidden holding costs and working capital effects behind surface freight rate differences

Situation-Based Options A, B, C Comparison

Not all new dealers require the same solution. The following three options branch according to shipper volume, buyer conditions, and financing circumstances.

Option A — Unit Rate Priority (RoRo Group Booking Participation)

Suited to shippers handling fewer than 5 units monthly, with flexible lead times and buyers willing to negotiate arrival dates. Forwarders bundle shipments from other small dealers into 30–50 unit group bookings. Freight rates are lowest, but vessel slot confirmation timing depends on the forwarder's group-building pace, making it difficult to commit to a departure date.

Option B — Lead Time Priority (Container Shoring)

Most appropriate for 1–20 unit monthly volumes, shippers with confirmed buyer arrival date commitments, or those facing imminent L/C expiration or T/T remittance deadlines. A single 40ft dry container accommodates one Carnival, Starex, or one Bongo unit, which undergoes standard shoring work (four-point lashing, wheel chocks, fuel minimization, battery terminal isolation) before loading onto a regular container vessel scheduled service. Because it is a scheduled service, departure dates are definitive, and as long as container seals remain intact, there is no deck exposure or rehandling, resulting in virtually no exterior condition claims at destination.

Option C — Risk Diversification Priority (Hybrid Operations)

Recommended for dealers growing to 20 or more units monthly. General sedans sensitive to unit rates are routed through RoRo group bookings, while high-volume, high-weight vehicles such as Carnivals, SUVs, and trucks with high buyer priority are handled via container shoring, distributing vessel slot risk across two channels.

Practitioner Action Checklist

Items new dealers must directly verify and execute within the next 30 days.

Sort the list of vehicles currently awaiting booking by scheduled departure date, buyer remittance deadline, and acquisition cost, then classify vehicles delayed 4 weeks or longer as candidates for container shoring conversion.
Re-examine INCOTERMS (CFR, CIF) conditions with buyers regarding destination port and arrival date commitments, and verify whether penalty clauses exist for non-compliance.
Conduct advance review of vehicle loading feasibility in 40ft dry containers (Carnival, Starex, and Bongo 1-ton are suitable for single loading; some large SUVs may require headroom adjustment).
Obtain cargo insurance (All Risk) quotes from at least two providers and verify in policy terms whether lashing accidents within containers are excluded from coverage.
Before customs clearance for the first export, conduct internal verification of vehicle identification number (VIN) alignment across deregistration certificate, automobile registration record, invoice, packing list, and bill of lading.
For vehicles where storage charges accumulate daily, compare the cumulative holding cost savings from container shoring conversion against the freight rate differential to inform the decision.
Cross-departmental responsibility mapping: Sales handles buyer arrival date renegotiation, Finance recalculates remittance collection schedule, and Logistics manages container booking and lashing workshop scheduling.

First export customs clearance document checklist (five document types) and container vehicle lashing verification checklist The most frequent failure point in first transactions is not freight rate but document and VIN verification

Short- and Medium-Term Implications

China's internal-combustion-engine SUV export surge is not a short-term event. According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) 2024 data, new energy vehicles (NEV) account for over 40% of new vehicle sales in China, and surplus internal-combustion-engine production capacity is likely to flow into global used and new vehicle export markets for years to come. For Korean new used-car export dealers, RoRo vessel slot shortage represents not a temporary bottleneck but a structural environment likely to persist for the next 2–3 years.

In this environment, the survival variable for new entrants is not simply freight unit rate but the certainty of vessel slot acquisition, the reliability of departure date commitments, and the quality of damage-free loading. Container shoring is a practical channel that simultaneously satisfies all three requirements and enables new dealers to honor buyer arrival date commitments without competing directly against large exporters.

Now, as China's internal-combustion-engine SUV export surge and global RoRo vessel slot depletion proceed in parallel, what new used-car export dealers need most is not to follow the same rules as large enterprises but to develop proactive response capabilities that protect schedule and margin even at 1–2 unit volumes. LIAN GLOBAL LOGIS's differentiated forwarding consulting begins precisely at this point. Moving beyond single-channel RoRo dependence to encompass container shoring, first export customs clearance, and destination inspection networks in the Middle East, we invite you to design your first transaction to lead into second and third transactions in partnership with LIAN GLOBAL LOGIS.