Korea’s Busan New Port is to receive 15 new berths in the latest expansion plans announced by the Korean government in a bid to increase container capacity by 15.8 million TEU.
The new facilities will be a mix of container terminals, feeder terminals and multi-purpose terminals and work will begin in stages based on actual cargo demand and under the coordination of central government.
Kim Li-tack, President of the Busan Port Authority (BPA), said: “We are on track to achieve a total container throughput of 20 million TEU by the end of this year and our additional expansion plans will build on this success to cement the position of the port of Busan as one of the very top container ports in the world, as well as the leading transshipment hub in northeast Asia.
“Our aim is to continually develop the port and pre-empt the rapidly evolving maritime transport industry to ensure that the port of Busan remains a key part of the global logistics chain and a major contributor to the economic development of the region.”
BPA also plans to facilitate the flow of cargo between the old and new ports (a distance of 25km) and is working on implementing an inter-terminal transfer (ITT) platform to optimise how trucks and trucking companies operate between the two facilities; as well as to reduce overall cost.
These developments are announced against the backdrop of an anticipated growth in container trade with northeast Asia expected to account for around 40% of the business by 2020.
An initial US$10 billion was invested in BPA by the Korean government in 1994 and the first of the initially planned 30 berths began operating in 2006.
Busan New Port cuurrently operates 22 berths with an additional eight currently under construction.
Total container throughput at BPA reached 18.68 million in 2014 with the New Port accounting for 64% or 11.93 million TEU.
