Seaport cargo falls 4.8% in Q2 due to trade uncertainties stemming from Middle East conflict

Cargo processed at Korean seaports fell 4.8 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter due to continued uncertainties in the global trade environment stemming from the ongoing Middle East conflict, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Thursday.

Cargo handled at the country’s seaports nationwide came to 375.95 million tons from April through June, down from the 394.99 million tons tallied during the same period last year, according to the ministry. 

Of the total, export-import cargo totaled 318.01 million tons for the quarter, down 5.6 percent from a year earlier.

Container cargo processed at seaports, however, rose 0.6 percent on year to 8.32 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the second quarter.

Of these, 4.5 million TEUs were export-import cargo, down 0.9 percent from the previous year.

Shipments to and from the Middle East plunged 54.6 percent over the cited period, and those to and from the United States and Vietnam fell 9 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

Shipments to and from China and Japan, on the other hand, rose 7.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The volume of transshipment cargo, or cargo processed here en route to final destinations elsewhere, increased 2.2 percent on year to 3.78 million TEUs.

By port, Busan processed 6.46 million TEUs of cargo in the second quarter, up 0.5 percent from a year ago, and the port of Incheon handled 900,000 TEUs, up 1.9 percent.

The Oceans Ministry attributed the quarterly decline in cargo handling to lingering uncertainties from the Iran war, which have affected global logistics and energy markets.

Yonhap