According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,
South Korea plans to invest 14 trillion won ($9.8 billion) to expand Busan Port, the country‘s largest and the world’s fourth largest, with the construction of Jinhae New Port.
According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, construction of the Jinhae New Port in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, will begin in the first half of 2025. Spanning 8.84 million square meters, the port will serve as an extension of the Busan Port, following the Busan New Port. Once completed, it will be able to accommodate vessels up to 30,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up from the current 24,000 TEU capacity at Busan New Port.
Scheduled for completion by 2045, the Jinhae New Port will boost Busan Port’s total handling capacity to 39.66 million TEU, an 87 percent increase from 2024’s 21.2 million TEU. This expansion will position Busan Port among the world’s largest container port infrastructures.
The project, which includes 21 berths, is expected to generate an economic impact of 41.58 trillion won - 2.7 times the current 15 trillion won in economic value generated by Busan Port.
The main rationale for the Jinhae New Port project is the growing instability in global logistics supply chains. According to Danish shipping analytics firm Sea-Intelligence, global on-time shipping reliability fell to 51.5 percent as of October 2024 from 78 percent in 2019 and global shipping companies are increasing vessel and fleet sizes to improve operational stability in response.
Nine berths at the Jinhae New Port are expected to be operational by 2032, with plans to designate a single operator for all berths. This will reduce costs associated with transshipment between terminals operated by different companies, which currently amount to 55.1 billion won annually, according to the Busan Port Authority.
“We will elevate Busan Port to the global top three ports and establish it as a logistics hub supporting Korea’s dynamic economy,” Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kang Do-hyung said.
By Kang In-sun and Chang Iou-chung
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Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (December 12, 2024)