Stuart Todd
New automotive factory will drive increased exports from Moroccan port
Tangiers’ new container port, Tanger Med, in Morocco, is set to get a significant traffic boost from the opening of automotive manufacturer Renault’s “mega-plant”, close by at Melhoussa.
The plant has just entered service and will be officially inaugurated a week from today, on 9 February.
Renault already has a production plant in Morocco, near Casablanca, which has an annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles and largely serves the domestic market.
In an initial phase, the new plant will turn out 170,000 low-cost vehicles a year, rising to 400,000 when a second production line is added in 2013.
Most of the production will be destined for export markets. Renault’s total investment in the plant could reach €800 million to €1 billion.
The new plant is linked to Tanger Med by rail as well as by road. Vehicle shipments will transit through the port’s 20ha car-carrier terminal which has the capacity to handle one million vehicles a year. The terminal’s two berths can accommodate two 240 metre-long car-carrier ships.
“The proximity of Tanger Med and its logistics capabilities were a key factor in the location of the plant in Melhoussa,” a Renault spokesman told IFW.
The plant will generate both inbound and outbound traffic flows, with engines and other parts and components imported and finished vehicles exported to markets, mostly in Europe but also Turkey, across the African continent and South America, the spokesman added.
More automotive-related freight traffic is likely to be generated by Tanger Automotive City, a large business park, located near Renault’s new plant and bringing together equipment manufacturers, logistics operators, contractors and related services providers.
From Tanger Med, logistics providers can provide door-to-door FTL and LTL services to the main economic centres in Europe within 48 hours, via ro-ro shuttle services to the Spanish port of Algeciras, only 14km across the Gibraltar Straits.
