hankyoreh

On Nov. 28, day five of the strike by truckers affiliated with TruckSol, part of a larger labor union, an emergency transportation vehicle operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation leaves an inland container depot in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. (Shin So-young/The Hankyoreh)

The cement industry is the first to be hard hit by the collective transport strike led by the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division (TruckSol), which is affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

Disruptions in cement shipments are becoming increasingly apparent. If the strike goes on for more than a week, production may come to halt due to a lack of supplies. The steel and automobile industries are also seeing disruptions in shipments. In fact, the volume of container shipments entering and exiting major ports across the country has dropped sharply by 80% compared to usual figures.

On Monday, cement industry stakeholders met with Lee Chang-yang, the minister of trade, industry and energy, at Asia Cement’s plant in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, where they revealed that the ongoing strike, which began on Thursday, had cost their industry around 46.4 billion won in shipping disruptions as of Sunday.

The cement industry called for an early resolution to the situation, warning that “damage will spread in the next week or so, and could mean situations where production has to be stopped due to a lack of supplies.”

Lee said the government would “devise a plan to resume transportation and, if necessary, discuss and promote measures with relevant ministries related to minimizing damage, such as possibly using military vehicles [for transportation].”

According to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday, the container traffic volume at 12 ports across the country from 5:00 pm the previous day to 10:00 am on Monday totaled 7,587 TEU. This is just 21% of the daily average of 36,655 TEU recorded at the same 12 ports last month. Currently, container traffic at the ports of Gwangyang, Pyeongtaek-Dangjin, and Ulsan have been almost completely suspended.

Figures in the ready-mixed concrete industry claimed that production of ready-mixed concrete has been halted nationwide since Nov. 29, adding that they anticipate further disruptions at construction sites across the country.

The steel and automobile industries are also experiencing partial disruptions in shipments.

“We are experiencing an average of 50,000 tons of shipment disruptions per day,” an individual affiliated with Hyundai Steel told the Hankyoreh over the phone.

In the completed vehicle industry, there are no issues with the vehicles transporting parts to factories, but the car carrier trailers needed to transport completed cars have stopped operating.

As a result, company employees and part-time workers have been driving completed vehicles directly to shipping centers.

Meanwhile, although the shipbuilding, oil refining and petrochemical industries said they are not yet facing any major issues regarding the supply and demand of goods, there is still major concern about a prolonged strike.

Although the transportation of materials in the shipping industry is currently at a standstill, no problems have yet occurred due to measures taken in advance, such as stocking up on supplies.

“Because the strike was announced in advance, we received a lot of the necessary materials in advance,” a shipbuilding industry official said. “However, if the strike drags on, there is a high possibility that [ship] building will be disrupted,” the official added.

The oil refining industry is facing a similar situation.

“We are taking measures since there are some gas stations where supply is falling below 50% per tank,” an official in the oil refining industry said. “The average stockpile of gas stations is for two to four weeks, so an announcement was made before the strike that people should fill up their tanks. However, if [the strike] continues into the longer term, we don’t have any bright countermeasures up our sleeve,” the official added.

By Kim Young-bae, senior staff writer; Ahn Tae-ho, staff reporter; Choi Woo-Ii, staff reporter; Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]