The Korean government has announced plans to add a further 15 berths to its flagship Busan New Port in the south of the country, to increase container capacity by 15.8 million TEUs. The new facilities will be a mix of container terminals, feeder terminals and multi-purpose terminals. Work will begin in stages based on actual cargo demand and under the coordination of the Central government, according to an official release.

Development began at Busan New Port in 1994 and it today operates 22 berths with an additional eight currently under construction. Total container throughput at Busan Port Authority (BPA) reached 18.68 million TEUs in 2014 with the New Port accounting for 64 per cent or 11.93 million TEUs.

The BPA President, Mr Kim Li-tack, said: "We are on track to achieve a total container throughput of 20 million TEUs 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 transhipment hub in northeast Asia."

In addition, to facilitate the flow of cargo between the old and new ports (a distance of 25 km), BPA is working on implementing an inter-terminal transfer (ITT) platform to optimise how trucks and trucking companies operate between the two facilities; and to reduce overall cost. This is the long-term strategy; in the meantime, BPA will consider subsidising ITT costs.

These developments have been announced against the backdrop of an anticipated growth in container trade, with North-East Asia expected to account for around 40 per cent of the business by 2020, the release highlighted.