Maersk Tangier port to handle 1 mln TEU this year

By Tom Pfeiffer

TANGIER, Morocco, April 18 (Reuters) - A.P. Moeller-Maersk's (MAERSKb.CO) Tangier port aims to handle 1 million containers this year after ramping up operations since a 2007 launch, making it Africa's biggest port complex, the company said.

The expansion is the first step towards a goal of handling 8 million 20-foot containers per year by 2013, placing it among the top 10 port complexes in the world by current standards, said Etienne Rocher, Managing Director of APM Terminals Tangier.

The Tanger-Med port allows the Maersk subsidiary to keep expanding container handling operations on the Strait of Gibraltar after its Spanish Algeciras complex nearby reached saturation point.

Some 200 ships pass through the Strait every day.

Industry executives expect global container traffic to double by 2014.

For the Moroccan government, Tanger-Med is the focal point of attempts to revive a long-neglected northern region and spur foreign businesses to shift operations to a chain of free trade zones linked to the port by new motorways and rail lines.

French carmaker Renault RENO.PA said last year it would build Africa's biggest car factory near Tanger-Med, capable of producing up to 400,000 vehicles a year.

For now the local Moroccan market for container import and export represents only 600,000 20-foot-equivalent units (TEU) a year, said Rocher.