BPA, Targets 2.8% Increase in Busan Port Cargo Volume to 23.4 Million TEU in 2024

Promoting Busan Port Transshipment Competitiveness and Fully Committing to Discovering New Shippers

Busan Port Authority (BPA, President Kang Jun-seok) set the total container throughput target for Busan Port in 2024 at 23.4 million TEU, which is 2.8% higher than the record high performance in 2023.

Busan New Port.

Despite the global trade contraction and significant uncertainties surrounding Busan Port, the goal includes actively attracting transshipment cargo to handle 12.63 million TEU of transshipment, a 4.0% increase.

The target growth rate of 2.8% far exceeds the average annual growth rate of 0.5% for Busan Port container throughput over the past five years, and is about 1.2 percentage points higher than the natural increase total throughput forecast of 23.12 million TEU (1.6%↑), which combines the export-import throughput prediction model (ARIMA + ratio model) and the transshipment outlook from major shipping lines using Busan Port.

The domestic and international environment surrounding Busan Port in 2024 is increasingly uncertain due to demand contraction caused by high inflation and expanded volatility in oil prices. In particular, moves by neighboring Northeast Asian ports to curb Busan Port’s transshipment routes and the spread of feeder services in Japanese domestic ports could hinder the growth of Busan Port’s transshipment cargo volume.

However, there are also positive factors surrounding Busan Port, such as the continued establishment of Busan Port as a transshipment hub by global shipping company A, strengthened preference of Japanese shippers for Busan Port transshipment due to rising Japanese land transportation costs in 2024, and improved logistics environment following the opening of new terminals at the New Port.

Global shipping company A, which utilizes Busan Port as a Northeast Asian logistics hub, has secured a self-operated terminal at Pier 1 of the New Port since 2021, making Busan New Port a transshipment hub and continuously expanding new transshipment cargo and new routes. It has ranked first in Busan Port’s transshipment container throughput for two consecutive years, creating 320,000 TEU of new transshipment cargo in 2022 and an estimated 400,000 TEU in 2023, significantly contributing to the increase in Busan Port’s transshipment volume.

In Japan, the aging of truck drivers is intensifying, leading to a decrease in the number of drivers. From April 2024, the revision of the Japanese Labor Reform Act will impose an additional annual labor limit of 960 hours for inland truck drivers, inevitably causing inefficiencies in domestic transportation and increased inland transportation costs.

Accordingly, if Japanese shippers wish to transship inland cargo, which previously moved to major Japanese ports via land transportation, at Busan Port with better route connectivity, it could be an opportunity for Busan Port to further increase Japanese transshipment cargo.

BPA plans to establish a continuous monitoring system to respond swiftly to changes in the maritime logistics market and promote Busan Port’s transshipment competitiveness to global shipping companies using quantitative data. It will also focus all efforts on improving port operating conditions and efficiency through the opening of new terminals at the New Port, as well as discovering new shippers and logistics companies in strategic Japanese regions.

BPA President Kang Jun-seok stated, “Despite the uncertain external environment such as global demand contraction, prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, and Middle East tensions, we will do our best to achieve the 2024 container throughput target of 23.4 million TEU.” He added, “We will continue to develop Busan Port as a transshipment hub for global and intra-Asia shipping lines, contributing to the growth of various port-related industries and national economic development.”

In 2023, Busan Port’s container throughput is expected to reach a record high of 22.75 million TEU (3.1% increase from the previous year), with export-import throughput increasing by 2.9% to 10.61 million TEU and transshipment throughput increasing by 3.2% to 12.14 million TEU.

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