THE Phnom Penh Autonomous Port will transfer 75 per cent of its loading capacity to a new location at Kandal  to better handle the increased shipments passing through the capital, according to PPAP officials.

The PPAP had received US$68 mill-ion in financing from the Chinese government for a second terminal 25 kilometres east of Phnom Penh, on which construction began last September, PPAP commercial director Eang Veng Sun said.

The Kandal facility would handle about 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent units a year, compared with the 70,000 TEUs handled at Phnom Penh, he said.

“We know that when we get big increases in shipments like we’re seeing this year, our existing port can’t handle it,” Eang Veng Sun  said, adding that phase one of the two-phase build would be completed soon.

A total of 53,307 TEUs have passed through PPAP in the first eight months of 2011, a 31 per cent increase year-on-year, according to PPAP statistics.

The port mainly receives imports of raw materials for the garment industry and construction materials for property developers, as well as fuel.

Exports largely consist of agricultural products.

Exports through the PPAP rose by 186 per cent year-on-year through July, with garments and textiles alone accounting for 43 per cent of the total.

At the same time, some imports  increased significantly. Construction materials rose 213 per cent and petrol-eum went up 140 per cent.

Imports of garment materials  increased nearly 18 per cent.

Eang Veng Sun attributed these gains to Cambodia’s newly gained direct access to the Cai Mep deep-water port in Vietnam, the first route to offer a direct shipping line to European markets.