Gwangyang City''s economic indicators, such as the number of employed persons, employment rate, and youth employment rate, are better than those of other regions in Jeonnam Province. It is undeniable that the economic advantage of Gwangyang City stems from the economic performance provided by Gwangyang Port. Nevertheless, exports from Gwangyang Port reached $28.2 billion in 2011 from $12.9 billion in 2005, and fell to $23.8 billion in 2019, remaining at the 2010 level. Gwangyang Port has lost its growth momentum and has been in the “nut cracker” condition.
China is the largest export market for Gwangyang Port, and the principal export product to China is iron and steel (HS 72). For iron and steel exports, however, the share of Gwangyang Port has been falling since 2016, and Gwangyang Port''s competitiveness also tends to decline. Moreover, the share of China''s steel imports among China''s total imports has been decreasing since 2016, and thus, China''s import structure for major export items of Gwangyang Port has been unfavorable to Gwangyang Port. This means that Gwangyang Port''s steel exports are in a difficult situation, and Gwangyang Port''s overall export prospects are far from bright.
Accordingly, it is necessary to identify the factors of export fluctuations so that Gwangyang Port can improve the competitiveness of export items and develop into a logistics hub in Northeast Asia. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors of export fluctuations in Gwangyang Port and to suggest ways to strengthen and maintain Gwangyang Port''s growth momentum. In order to reach this goal, the analysis was performed using a CMS model and BCG matrix.
The results of this study are as follows.
The RCA index of Gwangyang Port’s exports is greater than 1 and the CAC index for China is smaller than 1. This means that Gwangyang Port''s steel export is competitive in the global market, but it is losing competitiveness in the Chinese market. In addition, the TSI index has a positive sign, which means that Gwangyang Port’s steel export enjoys the comparative advantage in the world market and the Chinese market, but the comparative advantage in the Chinese market does not significantly match that of the global market. This means that Gwangyang Port''s competitiveness is lagging behind in the Chinese market, and needs in-depth analysis to strengthen its export competitiveness to China.
The result of the constant market share analysis indicates that the export competitiveness of Korean ports to the world and to China is weakened, and particularly, the export competitiveness of Korean ports to China is very weak. The result of the analysis of export competitiveness of Korean ports to China indicates that all six ports are losing their competitiveness, while for steel exports competitiveness acts as a negative factor, excluding Pyeongtaek Port. In exports to China and steel exports to China, the competitive effect is greater than the world growth effect, and the competitiveness mostly acted as a factor to reduce exports. It can be shown that Korea''s port competitiveness in the Chinese market and the Chinese steel market is generally facing a problem of weakening competitiveness. It was found that the increase in Korea''s exports to China and steel exports to China is due to the decrease in exports due to competitiveness being offset by the increase in exports due to the expansion of China''s import demand.
Gwangyang Port''s total exports and exports to China are much more influenced by global market trends than competitiveness, and competitiveness has been a factor in reducing exports. In addition, in the Gwangyang Port’s steel exports, the world market is a major factor in export fluctuations, and competitiveness has been a factor in increasing exports, but the increase in exports due to competitiveness is very low. In the case of steel exports from Gwangyang Port to China, it was found that the global market is a major factor in export fluctuations, and competitiveness has been found to reduce exports.
Judging from the BCG matrix analysis, Gwangyang Port is located in the dog area in exports to the world, but it is occupied in the star area in steel exports to the world and exports to China and steel exports to China. Gwangyang Port occupies a competitive advantage in market share and growth rate in steel exports to China compared to domestic competitive ports. However, it can also be seen that Gwangyang Port is experiencing a significant downturn and a deterioration of its status in markets other than China and items excluding steel.
Gwangyang Port should be able to function as a space for economic activity with self-sufficiency. Gwangyang port should be able to act as the largest industrial cluster port in Korea by taking advantage of the ease of linking infrastructure such as inland transportation with the hinterland logistics complex designated as a free trade zone and free economic zone, utilizing the strength of ease of linkage between TSR (Train Siberia) and TCR (Train China Railway), following the global trends such as the development of the offshore plant industry and the resource development industry, and implementing the development plan of the Gwangyang Bay chemical material cluster construction project and the smart complex port construction. In addition, continuous effort is necessary to secure the international competitiveness of Gwangyang Port so as to achieve the regional economy vitalization and job creation effects caused by the port value-added effect through the diversification of export items and diversification of the export markets.