Tanger Med Port Sees 25% Growth, Climbs Global Rankings Despite Pandemic

The Moroccan giant is posting a record figure during the first half of the current year. The newspaper l’Économiste reports the information note from the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA) which indicates that the port complex recorded an increase of 25% compared to the same period in 2020.

One of the factors that contributed to this performance, according to TMSA, is the commissioning in January 2021 of the TC3 container terminal of the Tanger Med 2 port, whose contribution to the overall traffic of the two ports (Tanger Med 1 and 2) now occupies a significant proportion. The company operating the Tanger Med ports has in particular indicated that the port complex could beat its own continental record of 5.7 million TEUs in 2020, if the current trend is maintained.

The estimated turnover for the year 2021 is 500 million dirhams (about 55 million $) for Tanger Med 1, an increase of 3% expected compared to 2020. The same source indicates that in 2020, the financial statements had already shown a certain resilience to the crisis, despite the gloomy situation marked by the pandemic. Nevertheless, the overall turnover of the port hub maintained its level with a slight increase of 1% in 2020. L’Économiste explains that it was impacted by the suspension of passenger traffic since March 2020, adding that net profit fell by 19% to 608 million dirhams.

Tanger Med indicates that this decline is due to the full integration of the group’s contribution to the special fund for managing the coronavirus pandemic, i.e. 300 million dirhams, of which 200 million for the account of TMPA.

In addition, the boards of directors of Tanger Med Port Authority and Tanger Med 2 have set the terms of the internal reorganization project of the Tanger Med port hub, through a merger operation, by absorbing TM 2 by TMPA.

Commissioned in early 2021, the TC3 container terminal of the Tanger Med 2 port should reach its full handling capacity through the operation of two new quay gantry cranes received in May 2021. This brings to eight the total number of equipment of this type operated on this terminal. The operational capacity of this logistics platform should now reach at least 1.5 million TEUs per year.