Cambodia’s salt production this year falls short of the country’s needs
21 August 2019
Cambodia may have to import as much as 50,000 tons of salt to meet the country’s demand due to the heavy rain that has affected salt production this year.
Bun Baraing, director of the salt-producer community in Kampot and Kep provinces, said that farmers were only able to produce 30,000 tons of salt while domestic demand is now 100,000 tons.
“We will ask the government for permission to import 50,000 tons of salt,” Baraing said. Salt would be ordered in many phases spread over the next months until the start of the salt harvest season so that, he said, “[When] local production can harvest enough salt, we will stop importing.”
http://www.thmeyload.com/archives/15966

Salt production in Kep and Kampot is dropping year on year according to a report from the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft.

Sustainable Salt Production Boosted
AKP Phnom Penh, February 19, 2020 --

Inter-ministries have worked to determine the challenging issues in order to boost the production of salt to increase the sustainability of salt supply for domestic demand.

Ministry of Industry and Handicraft underlined in a report that the main challenges are the lack of labour force due to low labour wage, land issues (farmers want to develop their salt farms into residential areas), and unfavorable weather conditions.

As of 2019, the salt production was recorded at 18,430 tons, the report pointed out.

Salt is solely produced in the provinces of Kampot and Kep, located in the southwest of the country. Salt farms cover some 4,748 hectares of land in the two provinces and are owned by 200 families as members of Kampot-Kep Salt Association. If full production, at least 70,564 tons of salt are produced per year from the total land.

The recorded highest amount of salt production was in 2015 with 175,172 tons, and since then the production saw a drop from year to year due the above-mentioned problems.

By Chea Vannak
https://www.akp.gov.kh/post/detail/26282

Encouraging news from Kampot and Kep:

High Salt Production Expected This Year
AKP Phnom Penh, April 11, 2020 --
The production of sea salt in Kampot and Kep provinces is optimistically expected to increase this year, according to salt association.

Mr. Bun Baraing, Co-Executive Director of Salt Association of Kampot and Kep, said that the salt production is predicted to increase this year due to favorable weather conditions and enough labour in the production chain.

“Due to favourable weather conditions, no rainfall since the beginning of the salt production season, the production has increased and if the favourable weather last until June this year, our salt production will likely be able to supply domestic demand,” Mr. Bun Baraing told AKP.

Domestic demand for salt is about 100,000 tons per year, Mr. Baraing said, adding that a 100 kilogrammes of salt costs currently US$60.

Last year, the association had to import 30,000 tons of salt from China and India as the local production was low due to unfavourable weather conditions – heavy rainfall.

There are about 200 families producing salt on 4,800 hectares of land in Kampot and Kep provinces.

By Chea Vannak
AKP

We've been having rain here in snooky. Last three days, quite heavy at times. I guess they aren't getting it there.

Kampot salt production threatened by cheap imports.

Proof that not everything made in Cambodia is cheap , if you can import stuff that is cheaper.

Kampot Province Produces Nearly 84,000 Tonnes of Salt
AKP Phnom Penh, August 24, 2020 --

Kampot province produced in total 83,969 tonnes of salt during the 2020 salt production season, thanks to good weather condition since early this year.

Figure from the Kampot Provincial Department of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation shows that salt was produced by 1,659 salt farmers on 3,726 hectares of salt farmland in the province.

Half of the total production have been supplied to the domestic market and the rest is stored in the warehouse, said Mr. Koeng Suntheang, chief of the provincial department’s salt farm bureau.

“Thanks to the favourable weather condition (hot weather) since the beginning of the production season, the amount of salt production increased with high quality,” Mr. Suntheang told AKP on Monday.

Currently, salt production is seasonally made over 4,800 hectares of land in two provinces –Kampot and Kep.

The domestic demand of salt is about 80,000 tonnes.

In 2019, salt production was recorded at only 18,430 tonnes due to unexpected weather condition –heavy rainfall hit the production down.

That year, Cambodia imported 30,000 tonnes of salt from China and India to fill up the domestic demand.
- AKP

Kampot province has completed the collection of more than 70,000 tons of salt
June 10, 2021

Kampot (MGO) - Kampot province has completed the collection of more than 70,000 tons of salt, which is less than last year, but this amount can meet the needs of domestic consumption [when added to] salt imports in stock of about 3,000 tons, including salt imported from Thailand and Vietnam.

Mr. Bun Narin, Technical Director of Kampot-Kep Salt Producers Association, told National Radio of Cambodia that the salt production process in Kampot province has been completed this year and that this year's salt harvest was just over 70,000 tons due to the salt production process [where there was a ] slight disruption due to climate change, with heavy rains in early April, resulting in minimal salt harvest.
However, Cambodia was still able to maintain a market balance and [there is] no lack of salt. He said that of the 70,000 tons of salt collected in Kampot, between 20,000 and 30,000 tons were released in the market. He added that the price of salt this year has risen slightly between 12,000 riel to 13,000 riel for a bag of salt weighing 50 kg.
At the same time, he said, more than 70,000 tons of salt could be enough [for the domestic demand], even though this year's harvest was less than last year.
https://www.mangomedia.net/news/kampot- ... ns-of-salt

Good news.
Does anyone have any idea if the Kampot salt producers are obeying the law these days? - by adding the iodine that is so crucial to kids mental development.
They didn't have a great reputation for this in the past.

Kampot-Kep Salt and Flower of Salt Registration as National Geographical Indication Product Mulling
AKP Phnom Penh, July 15, 2022 --

The Ministry of Commerce is in stage of preparing to register the ‘Kampot-Kep Salt and Flower of Salt’ as national geographical indication product to promote the product in the market.

The working group with support from development partners – French Development Agency (AFD) and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) are collecting samples of sea water in seven designed origin areas for testing for producing unique and quality salt and flower of salt, according to the ministry’s Intellectual Property Department.

“The ministry’s Department of Intellectual Property in collaboration with national and international experts of WIPO, organised a dissemination workshop and undertook samples of seawater, soil and salt to inspect the quality of Kampot-Kep Salt and Flower of Salt in the 7 production centre,” Mr. Soun Vichea, head of the Secretariat of the National Committee for Intellectual Property and Director of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Commerce, said.

“The positive results showed those areas can be included in the production area of Kampot-Kep salt and flower of salt,” he added.
- AKP