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New study predicts strong intra-Med box growth

New study predicts strong intra-Med box growth
Intra-Mediterranean container shipping is on an upward curve, with total volumes of container mainline calls and feeder traffic forecast to grow from 14.9m teu in 2013 to 15.6m teu in 2015, according to a new study by analysts Dynamar.

Thereafter volumes are expected to reach 17.1m teu in 2017, equivalent to 15% total growth over a four-year period, according to the report.

Including traffic from mainline calls, two Maersk-linked ports either end of the Med are busiest in terms of transhipment traffic - Algeciras with a transhipment volume of nearly 4m teu in 2013 and Port Said with 3.8m teu. Gioia Tauro and Tangier-Med have the highest percentage of total throughput as transhipment traffic, at 95% apiece.

Meanwhile, Piraeus in the central Med fares best in terms of connectivity with 54 different intra-Med shipping links.

As regards port operators, eight global terminal operators are involved in a total of 30 Med box facilities, with APM Terminals the largest with eight terminals, followed by DP World with six and Mediterranean Shipping Corp (MSC)-subsidiary TIL with five.

In total some 170 intra-Med box services operated by 40 carriers currently ply the region, calling at 95 different ports with vessels of between 100 teu and 3,000 teu in capacity. Largest intra-Med operator is MSC, with 25% of the market, followed by CMA CGM with 15%.

Largest trading area is the West Med - including Spain, France, Italy and Malta – with its major gateway ports such as Valencia, Barcelona, Marseilles and Genoa, as well as major transhipment hubs Algeciras, Tangier-Med, Malta and Gioia Tauro.

Total annual capacity of intra-Med services calling the West Med area is around 2.9m teu, compared to 2.8m teu for the Levant, 2.6m teu the Aegean, 911,000 teu the Adriatic and 862,000 TEU the Black Sea.

 Although small at present, Adriatic trade offers “a large potential for growth of intra-Med shipping volumes,” says the 220-page report, claimed to be the most comprehensive to date on the highly fragmented intra-Med market.