Busan is good

Pusan Newport adds 3 berths to beat back China

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Pusan Newport Co., which counts Dubai's DP World as one of its major shareholders, will operate three more berths next year in Busan as the world's fifth-largest port tries to attract more business.

The new berths, which will cost about 600 billion won ($650 million), will help Pusan Newport double its annual handling capacity to 2.4 million 20-foot containers when they start operations in January, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said in a statement yesterday.

Increased consumer demand in the United States and Europe for low-cost goods made in China and other Asian countries is boosting the volume of cargo handled by container port operators including Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and PSA International Pte. Global trade is estimated to rise 8.9 percent this year and 7.6 percent in 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The berths will have six container cranes and 31 yard cranes, the ministry said. Other shareholders include Samsung Group, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. and PSA. Mediterranean Shipping Co., United Arab Shipping Co. and Zim Integrated Shipping Services call at Pusan Newport.

Hutchison Whampoa, Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co., DP World and other operators handled 9.96 million containers in the first 10 months of this year in Busan, an increase of 0.8 percent from last year.

Busan is planning build a total of 30 new berths by 2011 as competition from Chinese ports, including Shanghai and Dalian, intensifies. The Korean port began using three new berths in January, a year ahead of the original schedule, to staunch the flow of business to Shanghai's Yangshan.

China plans to turn Shanghai into the world's largest port by 2010 with the opening of the $16 billion Yangshan deep-water port last year. That new capacity has enabled Shanghai to take customers from Busan for transshipment, which accounts for more than 40 percent of the Korean port's traffic.

Shanghai, the world's third-busiest port, will double its cargo capacity by 2010 with Yangshan, which began operation of five berths in December of last year.

[Source: JoongAng Daily (December 14, 2006)]