South Korea sees slowdown in transshipment cargo traffic in June

South Korea's cargo traffic began to level off after 15 months' of rolling.

The Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM, Minister Kwon Do Youp) announced that total container cargo volumes through major Korean ports recorded 1,869,000 TEU in June, jumping 4.7% from 1,785,000 TEU during the same period in 2011.

The total volume is made up of 1,145,000 TEU of import/export cargo traffic, 690,000 TEU of transshipment cargo traffic, and 34,000 TEU of offshore cargo traffic. The import/export volume and transshipment volume have increased by 4.1% and 7.2%, respectively, but the offshore volume dropped sharply by 19.2% compared with last June.

Especially the transshipment cargo has continued to maintain double-digit growth since February 2011, but the record broke this June. The MLTM explained the volume decrease was due to traffic declining in China.

Port by port, Busan Port, the biggest port in South Korea, showed 5.3% growth compared with last year's figure for total container traffic, recording 1,429,000 TEU.

Cargo traffic at Gwangyang Port reached 172,000 TEU, increasing by 8.8% over the last year. The climb is affected by stable traffic growth with the major trade partners. The cargo volumes between the three nations have climbed from 20,000 TEU to 27,000 TEU in China, from 24,000 TEU to 32,000 TEU in America, and from 6,600 TEU to 10,500 TEU in Russia.

On the other hand, Incheon Port saw their cargo volumes decrease slightly again by 0.5% to 162,000 TEU due to drops in trade with China and Japan. But the port has gradually shifted to greater trading in South East Asia with countries such as Taiwan and the Philippines.

A representative from the MLTM said, "We couldn't avoid a prolonged global economic depression, especially in Europe. So we are continuing to observe the Chinese market and to revitalize harbors."