“Finding niche markets”

The Singamman container terminal in the newly expanded Gamman wharf located next to Gamman Terminal began operations May 2002 as the sixth container dedicated terminal in the Port of Busan.
Construction of the container terminal began in 1995 and finished in December 2001, at a cost of 257.5 billion won (79.4 billion won from the government and 178.1 billion won from the Korea Container Terminal Authority) for the 7 year long construction period. The terminal has 826 meters of quay length, making it capable of accommodating two 50,000-ton vessels and one 5,000-ton vessel simultaneously, and 308,000 square meters of container yard space capable of handling 650,000 TEU of container cargoes annually.
Terminal operations are run by Dongbu Pusan Container Terminal, a consortium of Dongbu Express (65% share), Evergreen (20% share), and Uniglory, a subsidiary of Evergreen (15% share) for 30 years from 2002, with an option to extend another 30 years.
Mr. K.H Jung, captain and president of Dongbu Pusan Container Terminal, said, “Dongbu Pusan Container Terminal is the first Korean container terminal launched with direct investment from foreign global shipping liners. By investing together with global carriers Dongbu Pusan Container Terminal will secure 260,000 to 270,000 TEU of cargoes.” However, Mr. Jung evaluated Evergreen’s investment in the project as a key point to setting the port up as a hub for Japan and Northern China.
He plans to penetrate the feeder services niche market around Korea. Usually, global carriers have dedicated contracts with individual terminals in Korea in trunk route services. Mr. Jung believes there is a chance for his terminal to catch up on feeder service routes for global carriers, which are generally served through their own service plans. His final goal is to draw trunk route service vessels into his terminal drawing from good relations developed through feeder services for global carriers.
He identified the strong points Dongbu Pusan Container Terminal boasts as quick turn-around times and efficient crane productivity. As of the end of October 2002, Dongbu terminal recorded the highest crane productivity in the country, said Mr. Jung.
Mr. Jung also expects Dongbu to handle 500,000 TEU by year’s end, and anticipates that will increase to 850,000 TEU for 2003.
“Growth of 70% would be fulfilled with the help of transit cargoes from China,” added Mr. Jung.