Incheon Port 'Container' Throughput Surpasses 2 Million TEU... Factors Include Used Car Export Expansion and New Route Openings

Thanks to the use of container ships for exporting used cars, the container throughput at Incheon Port surpassed 2 million TEU (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) on the 8th of this year. Considering that last year’s 2 million TEU milestone was reached on August 17, this marks a record 9 days earlier.

According to the Incheon Port Authority (IPA) on the 11th, Incheon Port first exceeded 2 million TEU on December 6, 2013, and subsequently achieved this milestone earlier each year?in November 2014, October 2016, September 2017, and August 2018. The fastest year to surpass 2 million TEU was 2021, on August 3, making this year the second fastest on record.

IPA analyzed that the increase in throughput was driven by the expanded use of containerized exports of used cars since the end of last year. There are two methods for exporting used cars from Incheon Port: loading onto car carriers at the inner port, and loading into containers which are then loaded onto container ships at the new port or the south port container terminals.

According to customs data, in the first half of this year, 50,841 used cars were loaded onto car carriers, while 183,773 used cars were loaded onto container ships at Incheon Port. This clearly shows that containerization of used car exports has become more prominent following the sharp drop in container freight rates at the end of last year.

IPA also cited the opening of four new container routes at Incheon Port this year, bringing the total number of routes to a record high of 70, as another cause for the increase in throughput.

Incheon New Port Container Terminal
[Photo by Incheon Port Authority]

However, IPA forecasted that the growth in throughput may be uncertain in the second half of the year due to unclear demand increases from major used car importing countries, a slowdown in the global economy, an overall decline in import and export cargo caused by sluggish domestic consumption and manufacturing, and insufficient effects of increased trade with China following its reopening of economic activities.

An IPA official stated, "To maintain the growth in container throughput in the second half of the year, we will discover various cargo items and expand route services. We will strive to surpass the record annual throughput of 3.35 million TEU set in 2021."

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