Cargo processed at South Korean seaports rose slightly in the first two months of the year from a year earlier amid a steady increase in exports, government data showed Friday.

Cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 252.25 million tons in the January-February period, up 3.7 percent from 242.31 million tons tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Non-container cargo rose 3.7 percent on-year to 181.37 million tons over the two-month period, while container freight edged up 0.4 percent to 4.16 twenty-foot-equivalent-units.

Export-import cargo reached 203.16 million tons during the cited period, up 1 percent from the previous year's 201.27 million tons.

Busan was South Korea's biggest maritime gateway with cargo handling reaching 58.8 million tons in the first two months of the year, outpacing the southwestern port of Gwangyang with 46.35 million tons and Ulsan with 33.39 million tons, data showed.

The country's outbound shipments have been showing signs of recovery in recent months as February's exports soared 20.2 percent on-year on brisk overseas demand for memory chips and petrochemical products stemming from rebounding oil prices. (Yonhap)