Container shipping costs for US west coast rise 7 pct in October

Container shipping costs from South Korea to the US west coast gained 7.1 percent on-month in October, data showed Wednesday.

The average shipping cost for a 40-foot container for the route came to 4.38 million won ($3,358) last month, compared with 4.09 million logged a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

It marked the second on-month increase following 1.8 percent growth the previous month.

On an on-year basis, however, the costs dropped 58.6 percent in October.

The shipping expense from South Korea to the east coast of America inched down 1 percent on-month and that to the European Union slid 8.6 percent last month. The cost for China also sank 10.8 percent.

But costs for Japan and Vietnam advanced 10.3 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.

The figures include freight rates, commissions and other charges reported by local exporters.

South Korean importers' average costs to ship a 40-foot container from the US west coast and China jumped 19.4 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, in October, while the expenses from the US east coast dropped 11.5 percent and those from the EU tumbled 4.8 percent on-month, the data showed. (Yonhap)