Cambodia's Phnom Penh’s Autonomous Port. Click on the image to read the Phnom Penh Post.
Shipments at Phnom Penh’s Autonomous Port increased by 51.5 percent in February compared to the same month last year, but were down on January freight highs following Chinese New Year, figures showed Thursday. Last month 3,271 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) were delivered and received by the port, compared to 2,158 TEUs in February 2009. Many of the containers were shipped through the Vietnamese deepwater port of Cai Mep, which opened last year and is widely seen to be the reason for the capital port’s recovery following the global economic crisis. It offers a more direct route for shipments to the United States and Canada, shaving days off travel times compared to traditional shipping routes via Hong Kong and Singapore.
In January, the director general of the port said that the Phnom Penh port’s target was to ship 62,500 TEUs this year – 44 percent more than the 43,312 TEUs transported in 2009. Chinese company Shanghai is also scheduled to construct a $30 million port upgrade that would further increase capacity.
From the Phnom Penh Post, March 5, 2010