Container traffic at South Korea's Incheon port hits six-month low

According to the "Korea Herald" report on December 26, due to serious bottlenecks at major ports around the world and higher offers from Chinese shippers, container traffic at the Port of Incheon has fallen to a six-month low.

According to data from the Incheon Port Authority on Sunday (26th), the volume of cargo transported through the port between June and November 2021 was 1.64 million standard containers, down 5.5 percent year-on-year.

Shippers around the world, especially from China, are competing for ships by offering higher shipping fees, and many are now heading directly to China, the port said. During the same period, container traffic between China and the Port of Incheon fell by 6.7% to 992,098 TEUs.

Export companies in South Korea have also encountered difficulties due to rising shipping costs. According to a survey of 128 exporting companies in the metropolitan area conducted by the Incheon Chamber of Commerce and Industry last month, 31.7 percent of them said they encountered logistical difficulties due to rising shipping costs. The survey found that 18.6% of companies had difficulty finding ships, 16.3% experienced delays due to port congestion, and 13.5% had difficulty obtaining containers to ship goods.

In order to solve the above problems, the port of Incheon said that they are in contact with South Korean shipping companies to mobilize temporary ships to and from Southeast Asia and other regions.