FREIGHT shipments through the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in the first quarter 2011 climbed an annualised 31 percent, according to statistics obtained yesterday.

The growth came from a resurgent garments sector and increasing agricultural exports, officials claimed.

Israel’s Gold Star Shipping Line and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Line in particular were shipping plenty of goods on the Mekong River between Phnom Penh Autonomous Port and Vietnam’s Cai Mep International Terminal, according to PPAP Director General Hei Bavy.

“The increase is because of a rise in exports and imports of agricultural products, garments, construction materials, and textiles,” he said yesterday.

Cambodia’s shipments to Cai Mep are often sent further overseas to foreign ports, he said.

Port statistics show the port handled some 15,652 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo from the beginning of the year to March 31, a 31.3 percent increase on the 11,917 TEUs shipped last year.

The port currently ships 1,000 tonnes of rice a week to European countries and the United States, he claimed.

Cambodian trucking company So Nguon Group has also seen an increase in the first quarter of 2011 with garment industry, according to its President So Nguon.

“We have delivered 120 containers per month this year,” he said. “Our shipments have soared because of an increase in textile products.”

The firm’s shipments are largely garments as well as construction materials, he said.