Korean ports see box volumes shrink
The number of containers at South Korea's major seaports is expected to have dropped from a year earlier in October partly due to a drop in import-export cargo, the government said, reported Yonhap news agency.
The amount of container cargo handled in October is estimated at 1.87 million TEUs, down 1.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.
The ministry said the drop "appears to have been caused by uncertainties in the local and global markets, such as a contraction of the global economy and dwindling domestic consumption".
The amount of import-export cargo is estimated to have dropped 3.9 percent year-on-year in October despite an estimated 1.2 percent gain in the country's overall exports, as well as a 1.5 percent growth in imports last month.
"Import-export cargo is expected to have dropped slightly from the same month last year due to the global economic downturn and shrinking local consumption," the ministry said.
The container volume is estimated to have plunged 34.1 percent year-on-year to some 26,000 TEUs.
The amount of transhipment cargo, on the other hand, grew 4.3 percent from a year earlier to 713,000 TEUs on a 10.2 percent increase in the amount of transhipment cargo headed to the United States, it said.
Despite a drop in the overall amount of container cargo, the country's largest seaport in Busan is expected to further strengthen its position as the world's fifth-largest port as container volumes have grown 0.6 percent year-on-year to some 1.42 million TEUs.
"However, future growth of cargo passing through the Busan port will depend on a number of factors, such as an increase or drop in the amount of transhipment cargo originating from northern Chinese ports, which, in turn, depends on global economic conditions," the ministry said.
