Cargo Volume Declines 8.9% Last Year, First Drop in 11 Years Since Financial Crisis

Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Announces 2020 Container Cargo Volume

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Last year, the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) caused the nationwide port cargo volume to decrease by nearly 10%.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 21st that, according to last year's container cargo volume data, the total cargo volume at nationwide ports was 1,497.35 million tons, down 8.9% from 2019.

According to the Ministry, looking at the year-on-year cargo volume trends from 2006 to last year, last year was the first time since the global financial crisis in 2009 (-5.5%) that the cargo volume itself declined.

This was influenced by the import-export cargo volume dropping to 1,274.56 million tons, a 10.8% decrease compared to 2019.

A Ministry official explained, "Due to policies reducing carbon dioxide emissions, imports of thermal coal for power generation decreased, and prolonged COVID-19 led to weak consumption in the European Union (EU), the United States, and other regions, resulting in reduced trade volumes of raw materials and consumer goods, thereby decreasing import-export cargo volume."

Container cargo volume (based on TEU) declined from April, when the impact of COVID-19 became significant, but after September, demand in the Americas increased, leading to some recovery. Last year recorded 29.08 million TEU, a 0.5% decrease from 29.23 million TEU in 2019.

By port, Busan Port recorded 21.81 million TEU, down 0.8% from 21.99 million TEU the previous year. Incheon Port set a record high since its opening with 3.26 million TEU, a 5.6% increase from 3.09 million TEU the previous year. Gwangyang Port decreased to 2.16 million TEU from 2.38 million TEU the previous year.

Meanwhile, the cumulative total cargo volume of the world's top 10 major container ports as of November 2020 was 234 million TEU, a 0.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Busan Port fell one rank from 6th to 7th, with 19.91 million TEU, down 1.1% year-on-year.

For this year, nationwide port cargo volume is expected to increase compared to last year due to the base effect, but it is forecasted to be difficult to recover significantly if the global impact of COVID-19 continues.

Uncertainties remain, such as policy shifts following the inauguration of the Biden administration in the United States and restrictions on human exchanges due to delays in vaccine supply.

Lim Young-hoon, Director of Port Operations at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Given the high uncertainty ahead, we plan to actively support ongoing mergers between terminal operators and reduce transshipment costs to improve operational efficiency."

He added, "We will coordinate with port authorities to adjust the incentive system currently implemented to attract cargo volume and make active efforts to attract more new shipping routes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.