Cargo volume via the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP), the second-largest state-owned shipping centre, saw a 22 per cent year-on-year increase in the first nine months of 2013, the latest data show. Port officials said the growth rate was buoyed by import and export activity in the garment, agriculture and construction sectors.

Some 85,100 containers moved in and out of the port during the period, a jump from approximately 70,000 through the first nine months of 2012.

“The rise is in response to the growth of the economy in this period, because of the growth in exports of garment and agricultural products,” Eng Veng Sun, PPAP commercial director, said. “Our new terminal, which just launched [in January], is playing a very important role in helping with the rise in cargo traffic right now as we forecast that the existing one couldn’t handle it.”

With Chinese government funds, the PPAP spent more than $28 million on the construction of a new terminal, located in Kandal province’s Kean Svay district, about 30 kilometres from the existing one in Phnom Penh. The nine-month figures, which were released last week, take into account shipping statistics from both terminals.

Most of the imported products were construction materials, consumer goods, raw materials for garments, electronics and vehicles.

Milled rice, other agricultural goods and garment wear continued to dominate Cambodian exports.