South Korea container volume records highest level

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (Minister: Chung, Jong-hwan) announced that port container traffic in 2010 rose by 18.3% from last year (16,341 million TEU) to record 19.329 million TEU. This represents a 7.8% increase from 2008, when cargo volume set the record high.

As the real economy showed sound recovery in 2010, export and import cargoes (12.333 million TEU) and transshipment cargoes (6.619 million TEU) grew 18.9% and 15.7% from the same period of last year respectively.

Especially, coastal cargoes (376 thousand TEU) significantly increased by 48.5% thanks to the efforts to promote coastal shipping for green growth.

Cargo volume at Busan Port was 14.18 million TEU in 2010, which is 18.4% higher than last year. With increased coastal shipping services such as the Busan-Pohang route and others, Pusan port handles 73.6% of total container volume, which is a 0.3% increase compared to 2009.

At Gwangyang Port, accumulated cargo volume recorded 2.066 million TEU in 2010, up 14.1% from a year ago, exceeding 2 million TEU in 12 years and laying the foundation for quality services for shipowners and shippers.

At Incheon Port, cargo volume in 2010 increased by 19.6% from last year to 1.887 million TEU. It handles 96.4% of the total import/export cargo volumes as a key national port for the Seoul Metropolitan Area.

Cargo volumes in December 2010 increased by 10.8% compared to the same month of last year to 1.718 million TEU, which is over the highest monthly record set in May 2010 at 1.716 million TEU.

Ministry officials pointed out, Import/export cargo volume has increased by 18.9% and transshipment has grown 15.7%, setting a new record as the real economy is recovering and the government is making efforts to improve port competitiveness to increase cargo traffic. It is expected that container traffic will reach 20 million TEU in 2011.