Shipping lines’ recent strategy shifts have strained market conditions, highlighted by the ultimate collapse of Hanjin Shipping in February 2017. Hanjin Shipping accounted for approximately 10% of all container handling at Busan ports, so its demise pushed Busan Port Authority (BPA) into the red, with total container handling plunging 0.1% in 2016 from 2015.
However, with container handling stabilizing in the early part of this year, BPA can now look back at a strong first half increase in throughput of 5.6% to 10.1 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEU), compared to the same period last year. As such, BPA is anticipating a total throughput of approximately 20 million TEUs for the year.
In order to meet the needs of the megaalliance carriers, BPA continues to expand and improve its infrastructure.
Busan New Port has 23 berths currently in operation, with a plan for six additional berths to be developed over 2-4, or 2-5 phases by 2021. Furthermore, BPA plans to develop 9.5 million square meters of distripark by 2021. Within the distripark, 4.2 million square meters of the site is currently occupied by 68 multinational logistics and manufacturing firms…
