Invest KOREA

Container cargo processed at South Korea's major seaports rose to a new high last year on a large increase of transshipment cargo, the government said Thursday.

Container cargo handled at the country's major seaports, including the world's fifth-largest Busan port, came to some 22.49 million twenty-foot-equivalent-units (TEUs), up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

It marks the second consecutive year container cargo at the country's seaports exceeded 20 million TEUs.

"Though the increase of cargo is generally slowing down due to a global economic downturn, the country reached over 20 million TEUs for two consecutive years on a large increase in the amount of transshipment cargo," a ministry official said.

The amount of transshipment cargo, cargo processed here while en route to a final destination, surged 9.5 percent on-year to some 8.45 million TEUs. Import-export cargo gained 1.9 percent from a year earlier to little over 13.66 million TEUs while domestic cargo plunged 19.8 percent to around 468,000 TEUs.

Cargo processed at the country's largest port in Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, rose 5.2 percent on-year to over 17 million TEUs with the amount of transshipment cargo passing through there jumping 10.2 percent to 8.1 million TEUs, making it the world's second-largest seaport for transshipment cargo, the ministry said.

The country's second-largest port in southwestern Gwangyang handled a total of 2.14 million TEUs in 2012, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier.

Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (Jan. 10, 2012)