APM Terminals in $859m deal at Tangier Med port

Under the agreement with the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA), APM Terminals will create a new organisation in Tangier, and will be responsible for completion of the terminal yard, surface, buildings, container handling equipment, and integrated automated systems.

Located at the Tangier Med 2 port complex, quay wall construction and site reclamation for the first 1,200m has already been completed by the Tanger Med Port Authority, part of TMSA. When completed, the new terminal will increase the port’s total annual throughput capacity to over 9m teu, with up to 2,000 m of quay length. Total investment in the new terminal is expected to be EUR758m ($859m).

“APM Terminals has been in Morocco since the creation of our first company APM Terminals Tangier in March 2005 in partnership with AKWA Group and the start of port operations in July 2007,” said APM Terminals ceo Kim Fejfer. “APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will bring important innovation and future capacity into the West Med market on one of the world’s most strategic seaways – the Strait of Gibraltar.”

An APM Terminals statement called the Tangier and Algeciras facilities “a natural transhipment location” for cargoes transiting between Africa, Europe and the Far East.

The UN projects that more than half of the world’s population growth between 2015 and 2050 will occur in Africa. While African ports currently account for only 4.5% of global port throughput, this is expected to grow significantly as the African population more than doubles from 1.1bn to 2.4bn over the next 35 years.

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