Morocco’s Tanger-Med Port Challenges Spanish Dominance in Mediterranean Shipping

In an article devoted to the competition between Morocco and Spain for the domination of maritime freight in the Mediterranean, the New York-based news agency noted that Spanish ports have dominated freight traffic between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic in recent years, but a thriving Moroccan rival is now threatening this hegemony. Tanger Med handled nearly 5.8 million TEU containers last year, an increase of 20% compared to 2019, Bloomberg reports, noting that this performance makes it the most important port in the region. This port has thus outperformed its direct competitor, the port of Algeciras in Spain, whose container traffic over the same period fell by 0.4% to around 5.1 million TEU containers, the publication points out.

The factors behind the success of the Moroccan port are numerous. "A lively hinterland, combined with cheaper labor costs and an increasingly high-quality road network have helped to support the consolidation of the Moroccan hub," commented Jordi Espin, head at the European Shippers’ Council. "Ten years ago, Tanger Med was not even considered a serious competitor in the Mediterranean region. But the Moroccan port platform has grown considerably in recent years, recruiting highly qualified skills, and it has a clear business plan," he explained.

The expert stressed that Spain has stricter laws that have to be negotiated with the social partners, while Tanger Med can count on adapted legislation aimed at making it as modern and competitive as possible. According to Mr. Espin, the growth of the Tanger Med port benefits from recent global trade trends related to the coronavirus pandemic. "One of these trends is the sharp increase in demand for products from Asia related to e-commerce, which has led to the deployment of large carriers (CMA-CGM and Hapag-Lloyd...) who need modern infrastructure like that of Tanger Med," he explained.