Seoul: Cargo processed at South Korean seaports fell 4.8 percent from a year earlier in the second quarter due to ongoing uncertainties in the global trade environment stemming from tensions in the Middle East, the oceans ministry reported on Thursday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, cargo handled at the country's seaports nationwide amounted to 375.95 million tons during the April-June period, a decrease from the 394.99 million tons recorded during the same period last year. Export-import cargo constituted 318.01 million tons for the three-month period, marking a 5.6 percent decline from a year earlier.

Container cargo processed at seaports saw a slight increase of 0.6 percent year-on-year, reaching 8.32 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the second quarter. Of this, 4.5 million TEUs were export-import cargo, reflecting a 0.9 percent decrease from the previous year.

Shipments to and from the Middle East experienced a significant drop, plunging 54.6 percent over the cited period. Similarly, shipments to and from the United States and Vietnam fell by 9 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. In contrast, shipments to and from China and Japan increased by 7.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The volume of transshipment cargo, or cargo processed en route to final destinations elsewhere, rose 2.2 percent year-on-year, reaching 3.78 million TEUs. By port, Busan processed 6.46 million TEUs of cargo in the second quarter, a 0.5 percent increase from a year ago, while the port of Incheon handled 900,000 TEUs, an increase of 1.9 percent.

The oceans ministry attributed the quarterly decline in cargo handling to the persistent uncertainties caused by the conflict in the Middle East, which have impacted the global logistics and energy market.