The amount of container cargo processed at South Korea’s seaports rose 14.1 percent from a year earlier to an all-time high for February on growths of both export-import cargo and transshipments, the government said Wednesday.

The amount of container cargo handled at the country‘s seaports last month is estimated to reach 1.67 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs), according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

“This is the largest volume ever recorded in February, which was made possible due to a continued growth in the amount of transshipment cargo along with the growth of import-export cargo,” it said in a press release.

The amount of transshipment cargo that passes through the country while en route to its final destination, rose 16.8 percent from the same period last year to some 583,000 TEUs, according to the ministry.

February marks the 12th consecutive month the amount of international cargo passing through the country’s seaports grew by a double-digit number.

The amount of export-import cargo also grew 11 percent on-year to about 1.04 million TEUs last month, a sharp turnaround from a 1.1 percent drop in January.

The country‘s largest port in Busan, 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, handled 1.25 million TEUs, up 14.5 percent from a year earlier. The Busan port is the fifth-largest in the world.

(Yonhap News)