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According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced August 20 that the explosions in the port of Tianjin, China could adversely affect imports and exports between Korea and China in the short-term, but not severely, due to how quickly Korean shipping and logistics companies sought alternative ports.

Since the explosions on August 12, many companies have been conducting their import and export business via the Qinhuangdao Port and regional ports in Qingdao, Yentai and Shandong.

Korea’s exports to China via Tianjin Port account for 7.9 percent (USD 18.6 billion) of the total trade volume (USD 235.3 billion) between Korea and China. Most of the exports are of electric and electronic products, including semiconductors and mobile phones.

Six Korean companies located within 5 km of Tianjin Port were directly affected by the explosions. The one most severely hit has temporarily shut down operations. Fortunately, the roughly 800 other Korean companies in Tianjin were not severely affected by the explosions, as most of their production facilities were located 30-40 km from the accident.

KOTRA recommends that Korean companies bypass Tianjin Port when transporting explosive or poisonous chemicals and that products be thoroughly packaged when being shipped to alternative ports.

joon@yna.co.kr

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