Global shipping volumes are expected to rebound this year. Heng Chivoan
Revenues for the state-owned and stock-listed Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) topped $29 million last year but slid six per cent from 2019 on account of a pandemic-related slowdown in shipping.
A PPAP press release issued last week announced unaudited annual revenues for 2020 totalling $29.48 million, down from 2019’s audited figure of $31.31 million.
For the whole of last year, the PPAP received 2,363 cargo vessel voyages, down 1.91 per cent from 2,409 the previous year. Passenger boat traffic amounting to 126 voyages represented a decrease of 68.26 per cent from 397.
Cargo and gas-fuel shipments totalled 3,780,530 tonnes, down 0.24 per cent from 3,789,464 tonnes, while the number of containers passing through the port was 290,857 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), an increase of 3.49 per cent from 281,045. Passengers totalled 9,733, declining 69.87 per cent from 32,300.
PPAP chairman and CEO Hei Bavy could not be reached for comment on January 18, but he recently told local media outlet Fresh News that the drop in revenues last year was due to the widespread effects of the Covid-19 situation which caused sharp declines in cargo shipping and other services.
“The decrease in revenue is due to Covid-19, but the port is ready to help solve this problem,” Hei Bavy said.
Cambodia Logistics Association (CLA) president Sin Chanthy told The Post that the crisis has led to a decline in global freight and passenger activity across all sectors, impacting shipping by sea, land and air. For Cambodia, transport activity declined steeply from March to July due to factory closures.
Chanthy added, however, that shipments in Cambodia began to recover from August, especially with China, one of the Kingdom’s primary trading partners.
“Cambodia is expanding trade relations with China, particularly for supplies of raw materials, and shipments resumed after China successfully controlled the outbreak,” he said.
Looking forward at this year, Chanthy predicts that “transport activities will begin to recover gradually but will not rise sharply”.
