With nearly forty port platforms, Morocco is one of the main hubs in this sector in Africa. This reflects the significant flow of goods and passengers that it receives each year.
In its latest statistics, the National Ports Agency (ANP) reveals that the overall volume of Moroccan ports at the end of last September was 155.2 million tonnes, compared to 151 million tonnes over the same period the previous year.
This level of activity was driven by transshipment traffic which represents approximately 47.3% of the overall throughput with 73.5 million t processed. It is followed by imports, whose contribution to traffic corresponds to 31.7%, with a volume of 49.3 million t (a drop of 3.3%), exports, 16.4% for 25.4 million t, cabotage, with a share of 3.7% and a volume of 5.8 million t, bunkering whose contribution is estimated at 0.8% for a volume of 1.3 million t.
During the 3rd quarter of 2023, notable increases were observed for container flows which reached 7.5 million TEUs, achieving an increase of 8.9%, but also for other types goods such as petroleum coke (769 thousand t/+18.1%) and new vehicles (478,496 units/+18.8%). The figures also show a drop in traffic of imported hydrocarbons (8.9 million t/-2.7%), cereals (6.9 million t/-4.8%), coal (8 million t/-9 .3%), and phosphates and related products (18.4 million t/-15.9%).
Passenger traffic in Moroccan ports over the period was 4,071,360 passengers, an increase of 43.9% while the flow of cruise passengers reached 146,818 travelers. Products from coastal and artisanal maritime fishing, on the other hand, saw a drop of 16.1% over one year to stand at 913,974 t.
In terms of distribution by coastal and maritime regions, the Tangier and Tetouan-Al Hoceima area has the best traffic score with 91.8 million t, followed by the Greater Casablanca-Settat region, 47.6 million t, and Marrakech-Safi, 6.2 million tonnes.
