SOUTH KOREA's biggest shipping line Hanjin Shipping has agreed to sell its container terminal operations in Taiwan and Japan for KRW322.3 billion (US$352 million) to a company it partly owns, Taiwan's China Post reported.

The terminals in Tokyo and Kaohsiung are to be sold to Hanjin Pacific Corporation, which Hanjin Shipping set up with Macquarie Korea Opportunities Fund, the Seoul-based shipping company said in a report to the local bourse.

The report explained that Hanjin Shipping and other rivals are selling their terminal operations to focus more on cargo transport to cater to growing global trade.

In the last five years, container shipping lines have increased fees amid rising demand, while worldwide trade is estimated to expand 8.9 per cent in 2006 and 7.6 per cent next year, the report said quoting the International Monetary Fund.

Hong Kong's Orient Overseas (International) Ltd. (OOIL) agreed in November to sell its North American container terminals to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which is Canada's third-biggest retirement-fund manager, for US$2.35 billion.