Sihanoukville Autonomous Port saw a 10 per cent year-on-year shipment increase in the first 11 months of the year, according to data provided by the Port’s general director.

The shipment of cargo across the port during the time period reached 2.2 million tons, a 9.94 per cent increase from 2 million tonnes the previous year. The number of TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) rose 6 per cent from 202,000 in 2010 to 214,000, this year.

Lou Kimchhun, General Director of Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, said the expansion of the Cambodian economy had caused an increase in the circulation of goods being shipped through the port, particularly that of milled rice and other agricultural products, clothes, electronic equipment and construction material.

He said he anticipated a continued rise in activity with the completion of a railway serving the port. “When we have a railroad, transportation to the port will be faster and faster and transportation service will be cheaper,” he said.

Kouch Pheng, president of Advanced Glory Logistics (Cambodia) Co Ltd, a shipment services company, said AGL’s overall shipments for the first 11 months of the year increased about 20 per cent over the last year.

He said that most of the exports handled by his company consisted of clothes, while imports consisted mainly of electronics.

Kouch Pheng agreed that a new railway would affect port activity.

“The Cambodian transportation services will be fast when the construction of the railroad is completed, but it will affect some transportation companies’ business,” he said.