Striking South Korean truckers target chips, put brakes on port activity

ULSAN: Defiant South Korean truckers embarked on broader and more aggressive strike action on Friday, threatening to severely curtail deliveries of raw materials for semiconductors and petrochemical products.

Entering its fourth day, the strike protesting soaring fuel costs halved production at Hyundai Motor Co’s biggest factory complex on Thursday and has disrupted shipments for a range of companies including steelmaking giant POSCO .

Container traffic at ports has also slowed sharply. At Busan port, which accounts for 80% of the country’s container activity, traffic was down to a third of normal levels on Friday, a government official said.