Containers push up revenues
In 2018 Marsa Maroc, the Casablanca-based leading Moroccan port operator, managed to increase its revenues to MAD 2.7 billion (approximately EUR 250 million). The corporation said that this was due substantially to growing container volumes that the firm and its various subsidiaries were able to handle last year.
The number of boxes handled by Marsa Maroc, the main Moroccan port operator, reached a record high last year. All in all the firm managed 927,000 teu, which corresponds to an increase of 11.4%. One of the factors contributing to this good result was the launch of a regular link, operated by Cosco Shipping, Evergreen and Yang Ming and connecting Northern Europe and Asia. “The service also calls at the port of Casablanca en route,” finance and investment manager Meriem Diouri was proud to point out.
At the end of 2018 Marsa Maroc’s market share in Morocco stood at 66%, compared to 62% one year earlier. The port operator generated revenues of EUR 250.2 million in the period under review, or approximately 7.6% more than in 2017.
Extending activities in Tanger Med
In mid-March Germany’s Eurogate International and Contship Italia entered into a joint venture with Marsa Maroc’s subsidiary Marsa International Tangier Terminals (Mintt), which is the concessionaire for the construction, operation and maintenance of the port of Tanger Med’s container terminal 3. From mid-2020 onwards this facility will offer a total capacity to handle 1.5 million teu. Terminal 3’s main client will be the Hamburg-based shipping operator Hapag-Lloyd; the line is not a part of the joint venture, however.
Thus the port of Tanger Med is set to become even stronger in three years. The port of Casablanca will certainly feel the steadily rising overall competitive pressure in the market.
