Container traffic at South Korea’s Busan Port increased 3.7% to 1.63 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in May, the growth largely fueled by expanding transshipments, according to the Busan Port Authority (BPA).
From January to May 2015, overall box traffic at the port has already strengthened 6.4% to 8.11 million TEUs from the same period last year.
Import and export cargoes processed during these five months were recorded at 3.92 million TEUs, a 3.6% growth, while transshipment cargo registered at 4.18 million TEUs, a 9.1% increase year-over-year.
Transshipment cargo accounted for 52% of aggregate box volume in the first five months. Among the country’s biggest shipping partners, transshipments were highest from China at 1.3 million TEUs, followed by Japan at 602,600 TEUs, U.S. at 602,200 TEUs, and Europe at 227,300 TEUs.
While China, U.S., and Europe increased year-over-year transshipments by 14.4%, 11.1%, and 10.7%, respectively, Japan’s decreased 2.7%.
Both New Port and North Port saw higher cargo throughput in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year. Busan New Port processed 5.31 million TEUs, an increase of 8%, while North Port handled 2.79 million TEUs, up 3.4%.
Busan Port’s business continues to grow due to strong transshipment activity, said BPA. In March, the port logged a new monthly record by topping 1.68 million TEUs.
Kaohsiung port’s mega-ship berths
On the other hand, Taiwan’s Kaohsiung port is reportedly set to bid out the operation of its new mega-ship berths under construction at its Container Terminal Number 7 Project.
The first phase of the project is slated to open two and a half berths by June 2018, and container terminal operators are invited to place their bids in a public tender in August this year.
News reports said international lines from the G6 Alliance and 2M and international operators like PSA and DP World have shown interest in the project.
Five deep-water berths in all are to be constructed at the terminal, with a total investment of US$1.05 billion. They will have an overall length of 2.4 kilometers, with a draft of 18 meters.
The remaining two and a half berths are to be finished in the second phase of development. When all the berths are completed by mid-2019, Kaohsiung port will have added 4.5 million TEUs of container handling capacity and can serve ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) of up to 22,000 TEUs.
