Incheon Port Vehicle Cargo Volume Growth... Last Month New Cars Up 62%, Used Cars Up 54%

The volume of automobile exports and imports through Incheon Port has shown an increasing trend.

According to the Incheon Port Authority (IPA) on the 29th, the Hyundai Glovis car carrier 'Platinum Ray,' which departed from the German port of Bremerhaven, arrived at the inner port of Incheon on the 16th carrying 2,200 vehicles, including 1,500 new cars.

The new cars loaded on the vessel arrived at Incheon Port for transshipment, and from the 22nd, they will be sequentially shipped to China and other destinations via other car carriers.

IPA and Incheon Inner Port Terminal Operations Co., Ltd. proactively identified the increased demand for new car transshipment due to a shortage of car carriers (Ro-Ro ships), and attracted this new transshipment volume by promoting the advantage that Incheon Inner Port is a calm water area with installed locks, allowing safe loading and unloading of automobiles.

IPA expects that, based on this, the volume of new car transshipment will increase by more than 60,000 units annually, creating new added value in related industries.

Last month, the volume of new car trade through Incheon Port was 23,000 units, which is 62% higher than the 14,000 units during the same period last year.

Additionally, the export volume of used cars through Incheon Port is also showing favorable growth.

Since the beginning of this year, a cumulative total of 146,000 used cars have been exported as of last month, an increase of 40.5% compared to the previous year. In just last month, 38,000 used cars were exported through Incheon Port, a 54% increase compared to 25,000 units in the same month last year.

Used Car Export Volume Trend at Incheon Port [Provided by Incheon Port Authority]

IPA attributes the increase mainly to the shortage of car carriers and the decline in container shipping rates, which has led to more used car exports via containers.

Kim Jong-gil, Vice President of IPA's Operations Division, said, "Although the overall export situation is challenging, we will make every effort to increase strategic cargo volumes at Incheon Port," adding, "As the volume of automobile cargo through Incheon Port continues to grow, we will strive to create a better logistics environment, including the establishment of a smart auto valley."