BPA President Kang Jun-seok Conducts Busan Port Sales to Three Taiwanese Shipping Companies

Kang Jun-seok, President of Busan Port Authority (BPA), visited the headquarters of major Taiwanese shipping companies Evergreen, Wan Hai, and Yang Ming over two days from the 6th to the 7th to discuss cooperation plans to increase the use of Busan Port.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Busan Port handled 22.07 million TEUs in 2022, a 2.8% decrease compared to the previous year, due to the global logistics crisis, lockdowns in major Chinese cities, prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict, and a decline in global maritime container trade volume caused by global inflation.

This year, due to China’s reopening and an increase in transshipment volumes by the world’s largest shipping companies utilizing Busan Port as a Northeast Asia logistics hub, the cumulative volume as of April 2023 shows a 2.3% increase compared to the previous year.

Especially with the upcoming opening of Busan Port’s first fully automated terminal at the end of this year, the importance of stable cargo volume supply at Busan Port is further highlighted.

During the visit to the major Taiwanese shipping companies, President Kang expressed gratitude for their continued use of Busan Port and provided detailed explanations about BPA’s efforts to attract cargo volumes from key trading countries such as Japan and China, including the increase and potential of Japanese shippers’ transshipment through Busan Port and the current status of transshipment volumes from northern China.

He also clearly emphasized the potential for attracting new Japanese shippers in the future.

The three Taiwanese shipping companies established a new South America route centered on Busan New Port’s Pier 6, which opened last year, starting from June 2022.

Currently, this route plays an important role in increasing South America route cargo volumes at Busan Port and stabilizing cargo volume supply at the new terminal, with the fleet deployed expanding through joint operations with other shipping companies.

Busan Port Authority President Kang Jun-seok (fourth from the right in the front row) is taking a commemorative photo with representatives from a Taiwanese shipping company.

The Taiwanese shipping companies stated that Busan Port is highly competitive as the largest transshipment hub port in Northeast Asia and plays an important role in the global maritime logistics supply chain. They urged that to secure sustainable competitiveness, not only the New Port but also the North Port should continuously maintain competitiveness as a mother port for intra-Asia services.

They also mentioned that in relation to global decarbonization efforts, the port’s ability to supply eco-friendly fuels will be an important factor in determining port calls in the future.

In response, President Kang stated that he would take the lead in creating an environment for the supply of eco-friendly fuels by accelerating cooperation with Ulsan Port, a government and liquefied cargo hub port.

The shipping companies also showed great interest in the Jinhae New Port, scheduled to be supplied by 2032, and expressed hope that conditions will be created for foreign shipping companies to freely invest in Busan Port’s container terminals, as Busan Port is a hub port that global shipping companies prioritize for investment.

President Kang said, “This visit to Taiwanese shipping companies was a good opportunity to demonstrate how Busan Port strategically attracts transshipment cargo volumes from Japan and China,” and added, “I look forward to the Taiwanese shipping companies recognizing Busan Port’s competitiveness once again and expanding various routes centered on Busan Port.”

He also emphasized, “We will do our best to continuously communicate with global shipping companies, listen to difficulties in using Busan Port, and meet diverse customer needs through stable port infrastructure supply and stable port operations.”

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