ONE expands presence in Morocco
NewsONE eyes potential of rapidly developing markets of the African continent.
Tanger Med sees tonnage rise, containers steady
The port of Tanger Med, located on Morocco’s Mediterranean coastline, handled 44.6Mt of cargo in 2016, up 8.8% on 2015’s level, while box traffic was virtually unchanged.
The star performer during the year was hydrocarbons which registered a double digit rate of growth of 39%. In contrast, containerised cargoes increased only modestly, rising just 5% on the previous year to 31.5Mt, with vehicle traffic up 6%.
According to statistics published by the Tanger Med Port Authority (TMPA), in TEU terms, container traffic actually fell slightly with the 2,963,654 TEU handled comparing with 2,964,324 TEU in 2015. This mainly reflected a slowdown in the transhipment business with West Africa as the low value of oil and gas prices affected the import of consumer and capital goods into this region.
Tanger Med has also faced greater competition from carriers offering direct call services between Asia and West Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. Larger vessels can be used on this route as a result of the massive modernisation and expansion programmes that have taken place at several ports in West Africa in recent years.
According to TMPA, vehicle traffic handled at the Renault-managed terminal increased by 21% in 2016 with 312,962 units processed. By weight, this traffic translated into 6.2Mt, up just 6% on the previous year. Over 80% of the cars handled were manufactured in the local Renault factory and exported.
Even stronger growth was posted at the common-user ro-ro terminal, with TMPA figures revealing a throughput of 72,807 vehicles, an increase of 32% compared to 2015.
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