A transporter of solutions
30 years of Sonatrans. Mohssine Bensouda is convinced that Sonatrans, the company he founded in Casablanca, has a special role to play. In these uncertain times he’s concerned in the short term with consolidating what has been achieved – and making concrete plans for expansion too.
Congratulations, Mr Bensouda, on your corporate anniversary! Could you please outline the stages of Sonatrans’ development since 1992 for us?
Thank you. Since the beginning, Sonatrans has strived to develop according to the needs of its clients and the market. In doing so, we complement our own services with road and maritime solutions that we can offer, thanks also to new agents on board.
What started with a truck service from France and a sea connection from Italy now extends to road haulage and maritime connections with the whole of Europe and shipping routes towards the Middle and Far East.
In the early 2000s we acquired our first Mead type logistics facility [Magasin et aire sous douane], which covered about 800 m2. Today we’ve reached a total area of 4,000 m2.
We also care a lot about the service quality we offer. Five years ago we obtained authorised economic operator status (AEO) from the Moroccan customs authority. In 2019 we then added an air cargo unit that was certified by Iata the following year.
2019 also saw the emergence of Covid-19. What role has Sonatrans played in the fight against the pandemic?
First of all, Covid-19 had a negative impact on the group’s turnover and transport volumes. Nevertheless, there were goods to be transported with very short lead times for our customers in the pharmaceutical and (para-)medical sectors. In addition to the road division, the recently established airfreight department also came into its own.
What do you see as Sonatrans’ particular strengths?
Our offer can be summed up in our slogan, which is that we’re a ‘transporter of solutions’. Thanks to our know-how, our network of agents and the experience of our staff we can offer our customers weekly groupage services by road and sea from Europe and from the Middle and as well as the Far East. In addition, our airfreight service can provide connections to all international airports.
Our customers are informed in detail about the status of their shipment on a daily basis, which creates an atmosphere of close trust with Sonatrans. I’d like to add that our services are available at very competitive prices.
In which sectors do your customers mainly operate?
Our customers come from different sectors of the Moroccan economy, especially the pharmaceuticals, medicine, agriculture and food, manufacturing, car spare parts, textiles, catering and tourism, cosmetics and office products industries, and the like.
Geographically, they’re spread all over the country, but are concentrated especially on Casablanca, Tangier, Rabat, Marrakesh, Kenitra, Meknès and Fez.
What are your goals for next year?
Given the uncertain global economic environment, our first goal is to strengthen what we’ve already achieved. In addition, we want to fortify our service offering with new routes, including links to Colombo (Sri Lanka), São Paulo (Brazil) and other ports.
What else is in the immediate pipeline for the end of this year?
We’ll be launching new transport connections with West Africa soon. We’ve identified Dakar (Senegal), Libreville (Gabon) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) as promising destinations.
Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview!