Moroccan Port Tanger Med Surpasses Spain’s Algeciras as Top Mediterranean Container Hub

In an article devoted to the battle of maritime freight, the American media Bloomberg.com noted that Tanger Med is challenging the supremacy of Spanish ports in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. This performance in 2020 of the Moroccan port, located on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar, makes Tanger Med the most important port in the region, thus outclassing its direct competitor, the port of Algeciras in Spain, writes the American media. According to Bloomberg, the freight traffic of the Spanish port over the same period fell by 0.4% to reach nearly 5.1 million TEU containers.

For Jordi Espin, policy manager at the European Shippers’ Council, this feat of Tanger Med is justified by the strategic positioning of the platform, much cheaper labor costs and a quality road transport network. Bloomberg also specifies that several major shipping companies, including Maersk, CMA-CGM and Hapag-Lloyd, call at Tanger Med. "Ten years ago, Tanger Med could not even be considered a serious competitor in the Mediterranean basin. But the Moroccan port platform has grown a lot in recent years, recruiting highly qualified and suitable skills and has adopted a clear development model," acknowledges Jordi Espin.

The policy manager also recalls that Spain, for its part, has planned stricter laws that require negotiations with unions. "Tanger Med, on the other hand, enjoys tailor-made legislation aimed at making the platform as modern and competitive as possible.

"A significant increase in demand for products from Asia, linked to e-commerce, has led to the deployment of large carriers who need modern infrastructure (terminals) such as Tanger Med," adds the policy manager who also supports that the impact of the coronavirus on maritime traffic explains this rise in power of Tanger Med.