Port congestion becoming serious issue at S. Korea's largest port of Busan due to cargo ship shortage
테트리스처럼 쌓인 컨테이너...선박 부족에 부산신항 '몸살'
South Korea's exports in the first half of 2021 surpassed three hundred billion U.S. dollars for the first time.
But exports are facing another problem the disruption to global shipping, and as a result, not enough space at Korea's ports.
Bae Eun-ji has more.
Busan Port, South Korea's largest and the world's 7th busiest container port,... is heavily congested.
With so many containers unable to find a slot on a container vessel... they are now stacked up to their vertical limit of six.
This is because there's a shortage of cargo ships... and as shipping prices soar due to the disruption to the industry caused by the pandemic.
"The global economy was on a downward trend even before the pandemic. So a lot of shipping companies ordered less container ships. Then the pandemic hit, so consumption shrank... but then it rebounded... and demand started to soar... and it was impossible to keep up with the spike in demand.
Right now, containers are taking up 90-percent of the port's storage capacity... so it's running out of space to store additional shipments.
"In order to operate smoothly... containers usually take up about 70-percent of this port's capacity. If it tops 80-percent, there isn't enough space to rearrange the containers."
Unfortunately, it's impossible to supply more container ships at the current time.
"We ordered 12 new container ships with 13-thousand TEU capacity... but they'll only be available in 2023 or 2024. It takes time to manufacture ships because they need lead time, or the time it takes to create the products."
The shortage of space has forced local businesses to cut production or hike prices.
In June, South Korea's leading tire maker Hankook Tire... had to suspend operations at its key local factories for three days.
The situation will likely to be prolonged as well.... as more shipping demand is expected during the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News.
#cargo_ship #Busan #container_port
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2021-07-20, 17:00 (KST)
