Gyeongbuk Province Provides Up to 25 Million Won for Export Logistics Costs... 5 Billion Won Invested for Preemptive Support Amid Rising Export Expenses Due to Oil and Raw Material Prices

Support for SMEs and Mid-sized Companies Completing Export Shipments This Year, Including Maritime and Air Freight

Online Applications for Export Targets Open from July 22 to August 26 in the First Half, Scheduled for December in the Second Half

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] Gyeongbuk Province will support export logistics costs incurred this year up to 25 million KRW to ease the burden on local companies struggling with the global raw material supply imbalance and continuous rise in export freight rates.

Recently, due to prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict, high oil prices, soaring raw material prices, and high sea and air freight rates, a vicious cycle is expected where the cost of local companies' export products rises and export price competitiveness declines.

Accordingly, the province has prepared a total budget of 5 billion KRW, an increase of 1 billion KRW from last year's 4 billion KRW, to support export logistics costs this year.

This project supports export small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies with local business sites by covering ▲sea and air freight ▲domestic export transportation costs ▲inland transportation costs in export countries ▲domestic and overseas warehouse storage fees ▲export sample transportation costs, among others.

The province has proactively implemented export logistics cost support policies since 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis occurred, and supported a total of 315 companies last year.

Companies wishing to receive support can submit supporting documents and application forms online, including export declaration certificates for shipments completed this year, business registration certificates, factory registration certificates, SME and mid-sized company verification certificates, transportation invoices, and receipts.

The submitted materials will be reviewed by experts, verified for export performance by Daegu Customs, and reviewed by a deliberation committee to determine the final support amount up to 25 million KRW.

In particular, companies affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict will be supported up to 30 million KRW, including international transportation costs for returns from Ukraine or Russia to Korea, international transportation costs incurred to detour to alternative destinations, container storage delay fees, and excess berthing fees.

Gyeongbuk's exports have maintained a steady increase every month since September 2020 despite the COVID-19 crisis.

However, due to the impact of infectious diseases, war, and lockdowns, along with rising oil prices and expanding global supply chain disruptions, the export recovery trend is expected to slow down in the future.

Lee Dal-hee, Deputy Governor for Economy of the province, said, “Due to uncertain external environments, high inflation, and high exchange rates, we are under high-cost pressure, standing at a crossroads of stagnation in both domestic demand and exports. We have boldly prepared this logistics cost support project to mitigate the shock to local export companies and stabilize price increases.”

Local companies wishing to apply for Gyeongbuk Province's export logistics cost support project can submit applications online through the Gyeongsangbuk-do Economic Promotion Agency website from the 22nd of this month until August 26.

For more details, contact the International Trade Team of the Provincial Foreign Affairs and Trade Division or the Marketing Team of the Gyeongbuk Economic Promotion Agency.

Export logistics costs incurred in the second half of the year will be processed in December following the same procedure.

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