Cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell 2.2 percent on-year in the first quarter due to sagging global trade and an economic slowdown, the oceans ministry said Tuesday.
Cargo handled at the country’s ports nationwide came to 388.27 million tons during the first three months of 2023, compared with 396.94 billion tons a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
Of them, export-import cargo came to 332.67 billion tons, down 1.0 percent on-year, it added.
Container cargo processed at the seaports inched down 0.2 percent on-year to come to 7.31 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the January-March period. Of them, processed export-import container cargo stood at 4.15 million TEUs, logging a 0.2 percent on-year decline.
By nation, trade volume with the United States and Japan fell 4.5 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively last month, while that with China remained unchanged, the data showed.
South Korea’s handling of transshipment cargo, or cargo processed here en route to final destinations, also went down 0.3 percent on-year to 3.09 million TEUs.
Non-container cargo handled at the ports fell 1.9 percent from the previous year to 263.87 million tons in the first quarter, the ministry said.
By item, the volume of oil added 2.0 percent to 125.84 million tons, while that of iron ore went down 4.5 percent. Vehicle shipments jumped 13 percent on-year to 24.14 million tons on smooth supplies of automotive chips.
“Beijing’s reopening policy led to the upturn of our trade volume with China and in transshipment cargo in March following on-year decreases in January and February. But it is still difficult to make a forecast for this year amid high inflation and uncertainties in the global economy,” a ministry official said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency