Cargo processed at South Korean seaports rose nearly 2 percent in July from a year earlier on a gain in container freight, government data showed Thursday.

The volume of cargo handled at the country's seaports came to 124.3 million tons last month, up 1.9 percent from 122.1 million tons tallied in the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The July figure marked a turnaround from a 3.7 percent on-year fall in June.

The monthly increase was attributed to a rise in container cargo, which gained 6.6 percent on-year in July to 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units, led by brisk export and transshipment cargo. Non-container cargo also edged up 0.4 percent on-year to 86.2 million tons last month.

Transshipment cargo, or cargo processed here while en route to a final destination, climbed 1.1 percent on-year to some 903,000 TEUs.

South Korea's exports slumped 10.2 percent on-year in July, extending their negative streak to 19 straight months, due to faltering global demand and low oil prices.

By port, the country's largest port in Busan, located some 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, processed 31.8 million tons of cargo last month, up 5.3 percent from a year earlier.

As of end-July, Busan remained the world's fifth-largest seaport in cargo volume, the ministry said. (Yonhap)