Cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell slightly from a year earlier in January on a slump in exports and imports, the government said Thursday.
  

The amount of cargo handled at seaports here came to some 120.85 million tons last month, down 2.6 percent from 124.02 million tons in the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
  

Import-export cargo slipped 0.8 percent on-year to about 103.44 million tons amid a drop in imports and exports.
  

The trade ministry earlier said the country's overall exports inched down 0.4 percent on-year to $45.37 billion in January, with imports plunging 11 percent to $39.84 billion.
  

Domestic cargo plunged 11.5 percent on-year to some 17.41 million tons in January.
  

Container cargo, on the other hand, gained 2.5 percent on-year to some 2.07 million twenty-foot-equivalent units, breaching the 2-million mark for the second time in the country's history, the maritime ministry said.
  

Import-export cargo, in terms of containers, rose 2.9 percent on-year to about 1.18 million TEUs with transshipment cargo also growing 1.4 percent to some 863,000 TEUs. Transshipment cargo refers to cargo processed here while en route to a final destination, often to change means of transportation.
  

By port, cargo processed at the country's largest seaport in Busan gained 2.9 percent on-year to about 1.56 million TEUs, making it the world's sixth largest port. (Yonhap)