Cargoes processed at South Korean seaports edged up in the first quarter from a year earlier as a rise in domestic shipments made up for a drop in exports and imports, government data showed.
The country’s seaports handled a combined 366.1 million tons of freight during the January-March period, up 1.5% from 360.7 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
Export-import cargo, which accounted for 82.6% of the total, retreated 1% year-on-year to 302.5 million tons, offsetting a 15.6% jump in domestic shipments of 63.7 million tons, said a Yonhap news report.
The ministry data showed that containers handled by South Korean ports stood at 6.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the first quarter, nearly unchanged from a year earlier.
Export-import container traffic edged up 1.3% year-on-year to 3.6 million TEUs over the three-month period.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s outbound shipments sank 13.1% year-on-year to US$116 billion, with its imports tumbling 16.3% year-on-year to $93.6 billion.
By port, container cargo processed at the country’s largest seaport of Busan inched down 1% year-on-year to 4.8 million TEUs, while Incheon saw the number jump 6.9% year-on-year to 576,000 TEUs.
Busan was the world’s fifth busiest container port in freight handled in the first quarter, following Shanghai, Singapore, Shenzhen, and Ningbo-Zhoushan.
Photo: (WT-en) Jpatokal
