Morocco’s Tanger Med Port Surpasses Algeciras in Container Traffic, Reshaping Mediterranean Shipping

The port of Algeciras, ranked as the best port in terms of freight traffic, not only in Spain but throughout the Mediterranean, is facing two major challenges: the lack of infrastructure outside its enclosure and the growing competition from Tanger Med, the modern port created by Morocco on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA), the Moroccan equivalent of the Port Authority of Algeciras, announced that in 2020, container traffic increased by 18% in this port, reaching 5.7 million TEUs, thus surpassing the port of Valencia, which expects to close 2020 with a figure similar to the previous year (5.43 million). For its part, Algeciras expects to end up with around 5.2 million containers.

Today, the port of Tanger Med has the capacity to accommodate nine million containers, the transit of seven million passengers and 700,000 TIR trucks, as well as the export of one million vehicles.

According to the official data for 2020 published by the President of the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA), Gerardo Landaluce, the port of Algeciras exceeded 100 million tons (107.3 million), slightly down compared to 2019 when it had reached 109 million.