Casablanca-Settat Region Ports Handled 75% of the Overall Traffic in 2021

Rabat – The ports of the Casablanca-Settat region recorded more than 75% of the total port traffic among Morocco’s National Agency of Ports (ANP) in 2021.

The Casablanca-Jorf Lasfar alone recorded the transit of 64 million tonnes.

The port of Jorf Lasfar ranks first in the region with a share of about 39% of overall traffic, said the ANP, noting that it ensured the transit of 35.1 million tonnes at the end of 2021.

The number represents a decline of 5.4% in the volumes handled compared to the same period in 2020. The downward trend is attributed to the decline in fertilizer traffic (-8.8%), coal (-3.3%), sulfur (-9.1%), cereals (-16.5%) and ammonia (-12.9%).

Meanwhile, phosphoric acid exports increased by 19.4% with a volume of about 1.9 million tonnes, while diesel traffic recorded an increase of 10.5%, totalling a volume of 2.1 million tonnes.

ANP revealed that the port of Casablanca comes second in terms of share, ensuring the transit of 29 million tonnes at the end of December 2021, a decrease of 4.3% compared to December 2020.

The agency said the results are due to a sharp decline in imports of cereals (-21.5%), phosphates (-5.3%) and livestock feed (-18.2%). Container and sugar traffic marked, however, respective increases of +4.7% and +12.2%.

The activity in the port of Mohammedia recorded a rebound of 4.9% for the year 2021, mainly induced by the increase in diesel imports of 12.4%, totaling a volume of 2.3 million tonnes, ANP noted.

Butane traffic also fell by 2.7%, with a volume of 1.3 million tonnes.

ANP ports recorded an overall volume of 91 million tonnes in 2021, showing an increase of 3.5% compared to 2019.

Port activities showed strong signs of recovery in the post-pandemic era, with traffic reaching 83.1% million tonnes over November 2021.

As Tangier Med Port became the best container port in Africa and the Mediterranean sea in 2021, Morocco is further enhancing its efforts to improve ports’ infrastructure and become a major trade and manufacturing hub in the continent.