Transshipment cargoes decrease in Pusan

Transshipment cargoes through Pusan Port decreased in March from the previous month. Pusan Regional Maritime Affaires & Fisheries Office announced April 22 that the Port handled 365,336 TEU of transshipment cargoes in March, representing a decrease of 6.8% from the same period last year, and more than 4% from the previous month.
During the first quarter of 2004, transshipment cargoes stood at 1,041,819 TEU, a decrease of 3.2% compared to first quarter of 2003. The steep decline has caused many anxieties, fearing that Pusan Port may have some serious obstacles to overcome and may be further away from its goal of becoming a major hub port in northeast Asia. Historically, transshipment cargoes have increased continually since 1999.
The Port handled 940,230 TEU this past March, a decrease of 0.5% compared with last March. The port saw increased container cargoes for 4 months from October, 2003. During February of this year, container cargoes increased by 7.5% compared with the same period last year. But even the rate of growth fell as transshipment cargoes continue to decline more and more.
Handling rates of transshipment cargoes decreased by 4% in February, but export cargoes (262,412 TEU) increased by 23.1% and import cargoes (253,231 TEU) increased by 15.1%. The port handled 834,785 TEU, an increase of 7.5% compared with the previous year, with a sharp increase of domestic trading cargoes in February.
During the first quarter, the Port of Pusan handled 2,642,716 TEU, an increase of 2.9% compared with the same period last year, because of declining cargoes in March.
An official at the Pusan Regional Maritime Affaires & Fisheries Office said, "Northern Chinese ports like Quingdao and Dalian improved their port facilities for large sized M/Vs," and added, "So, global shipping companies like Maersk-Sealand, OOCL, APL, and P&O Nedlloyd changed callings from Pusan Port to those ports, and Chinese cargoes for North America or Europe use a port in Malaysia as their new transshipment port."
Meanwhile, the BPA (Busan Port Authority) may operate a volume incentive system and reduce and/or exempt stevedoring fees for shipping companies handling under 0.2 million TEU, lower than the standard increase rate of 20%. The system applies to shipping companies handling over 0.2 million TEU, higher than the original standard increase rate of 20%.