Climate change was named as the reason for Cambodian salt production this year declining about 15 per cent, experts said yesterday.

The Kep-Kampot Salt Producer Community, the only such organisation in the country, said it produced about 80,000 tonnes of salt during the production season this year, down from 95,000 last year.

The increased frequency of rainfall, a condition the community attributes to climate change, led to the decreased output, president Ly Seng said yesterday.

Although this year’s drop in salt production would not affect salt prices, he said, the Kingdom’s salt industry looked as if it was on a downward trend. In 2009, Cambodia imported several thousand tonnes of salt from China to supply the domestic markets after two years of decline.

Salt producers, however, said losses and gains in the market were normal for Cambodia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at [email protected]