Slight increase for South Korean container traffic in November

Port of Busan

The Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) announced that the estimated total containerized cargo volumes through major Korean ports a increased slightly to 1,866,000 TEU in November, up by 2.3% from 1,824,000 TEU during the same period in 2011.

Among them import / export cargo traffic recorded 1,142,000 TEU, increasing by 3.1%. The transshipment cargo volume also expanded to 691,000 TEU by 3% compared with the same period in 2011. However the offshore cargo traffic sharply shrunk to 34,000 TEU, down by 27.3% compared with November last year.

Considering the ruthless global economic depression, traffic performances were not bad. However, growth rate progress has been slow.

Port by port, traffic at Busan Port, the biggest port in South Korea, climbed slightly by 0.8% to 1,381,000 TEU compared with the same period in 2011. Among the figures, the transshipment cargo volume also increased to 613,000 TEU, up by 2.6% over the same period last year.

Container cargo traffic at Gwangyang Port rose noticeably to 188,000 TEU, soaring by 17.2% from last year due to empty container traffic growth. Transshipment cargo volumes were also boosted by 18.4% to 27,000 TEU.

Cargo traffic at Incheon Port increased by 4.8% to 179,000 TEU. This result came from the advanced trade volume with China, Vietnam, and Thailand by 1.8%, 22%, and 23.9%, respectively.

Overall the MLTM forecasts that increases in cargo traffic like in the past would not be repeating soon, judging by domestic and foreign economic trends. < 김보람 기자 brkim@ksg.co.kr >