Mike King, Special Correspondent | May 08, 2012 8:41AM EDT
Box volumes at South Korea’s ports reached a record high in April as transshipment traffic drove growth.
Figures released by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs revealed a 4.7 percent year-on-year gain last month as throughput reached 1.93 million 20-foot-equivalent units.
Busan, one of the world’s top five container ports by volume, handled the majority of Korea’s container traffic in April with throughput rising 8.2 percent compared to a year earlier to reach 1.48 million TEU.
National transshipment volumes increased by over 18 percent to 758,000 TEUs, which made up for the 2.6 percent decline in import-export cargo, which was affected by lower trade with China and Japan.
Trade ministers from China, Japan and South Korea will meet on Saturday to discuss the creation of possible trilateral free trade zone to boost trade.
China and South Korea have already launched negotiations for their own bilateral FTA but Japan is also keen for inclusion.
Contact Mike King at michael@borderline.eu.com.
