This file photo, taken June 1, 2021, shows ships carrying containers docking at a port in South Korea’s southeastern city of Busan. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 22 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s leading steelmaker POSCO is taking active steps to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are having difficulty exporting their products due to a shortage of vessels and recent hikes in freight rates.
On Monday, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the state-run Korea International Trade Association to promote cooperation in supporting the seaborne transport of goods for SMEs.
Under terms of the MOU, POSCO will support the on-time transport of goods for SMEs that are having difficulty with exports by sharing the idle space of its cargo ships that operate on a fixed day basis, during the period from July 1 to the end of this year.
To this end, it decided to open its ‘export logistics co-loading platform’ – previously available only to its client companies – to SMEs even if they have no business relations with the firm.
The platform is a logistics system designed to enable its client companies to load a small quantity of goods at the same time when POSCO loads its cargo in bulk carriers.
The system offers an all-in-one online service ranging from vessel scheduling to applications for co-loading.
It has been operated on a trial basis from early this year. Thus far, 40,000 tons of client cargo have been loaded as part of the initiative.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
