South Korea’s Busan port has set itself an aim to handle 20 million TEU in 2017, improving from the 19.85 million TEU handled in 2016, according to Busan Port Authority (BPA).
Last year’s throughput rose by 2.7% from the 19.46 million TEU recorded in 2015, figures from BPA showed.
The port authority, however, is anticipating transhipment cargoes in 2017 to drop by 3% year-on-year due to cargo losses from the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping and a reshuffling of container carrier alliances from this year.
BPA said it will continue to bolster its marketing efforts to increase cargo volumes and new services in order to attract volumes from regions with growth potential including Southeast Asia, South America and the Middle East.
Earlier this year, BPA said it secured a 2017 budget of KRW670.2bn ($564.3 million), which will go toward port construction, the Busan North Port development and investment, port facility maintenance, and incentives such as attracting transhipment cargoes.
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