Morocco’s ports see cargo traffic down 7.7% in January

(-4.3%) and hydrocarbons (-15%). A fall of 12% at the end of January was down to a decline in the traffic of phosphates (-29.9%), clinker (-25%) and fertilizers (-9.7%). Cabotage volumes also decreased by 13.3% at 257,000 tonnes due to a decrease in hydrocarbon traffic (-27.8%) and in particular diesel at the port of Mohammedia (-27.2%). Ports The ports of Casablanca, Jorf Lasfar, and Mohammedia together had transit cargo 5.7 million tonnes, accounting for 76.1% of all ANP ports. Jorf Lasfar The port of Jorf Lasfar accounted for 40.1% of overall traffic. Compared to 2020, it recorded a decrease of 16.1% due to reduced exports of fertilizers (-11.6%) and imports of cereals (-42%), sulfur (-4.5%), and coal (-43.5%). Casablanca Casablanca port accounts for 30.9% of Morocco’s traffic. Transit of 2.3 million tonnes was down by 5%. Mohammedia The port of Mohammedia registered a decline of 26.1% compared to the first month of 2020, due to reduced imports of diesel, base oils, and bitumen. Other ports’ traffic – January 20201, compared to January 2020 Ports de Safi, +132%; Agadir, -25.5%; Nador, -18.9%; and Laayoune, -35.4%. By Cargo Sector Container activity in ports under ANP totaled 114,166 TEUs during the first month of 2021, a slight increase of 0.8%. In terms of tonnage, container traffic marked a decrease 1.6%, with a volume of 1.1 million tons. Cereals In the first month of 2021, imports of cereals amounted to 609,000 tonnes, marking a decline by 13.1% compared to the end of January of the previous year. Phosphates & Derivatives The traffic of phosphates and derivatives reached, in January 2021, a volume of around 2.7 million tonnes, a decrease of 8.3%. This downward variation is mainly due to the sharp decline of phosphate exports by 29.9% and fertilizers 8.9%, although other products recorded increases, especially ammonia (+ 8.6%), phosphoric acid (+ 17.9%) and sulfiric acid (+ 22%). Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbon traffic amounted to to 0.9 million tonnes at the end of January 2021, a sharp drop of 16.6% from report for the same month of 2020. This decrease affected approximately all ports, apart from the ports of Nador and Agadir which have with respective increases of 89.4% and 2.6%, with volumes of 51,000 tonnes and 86,000 tons. TIR In January 2021, TIR traffic reached a volume of 1,516 units, a decrease of 12.4% compared to the end of January of the year 2020. The port of Nador recorded 1,513 units, 99.8% of the total TIR traffic. Passengers Apart from the port of Nador which experienced the transit of 10,304 passengers during the month of January 2021, access to other ferry terminals in ports managed by ANP is still suspended for all ferries, cruise ships and passengers, due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The ANP report for January 2021 (in French) can be accessed here Copyright (C) PortSEurope. All Rights Reserved. 2021.