Malaga to Tangiers freight service flourishes thanks to car part exports

The Port of Malaga is making inroads into the competitive market for importing and exporting products across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco.

A Malaga-based company that runs a daily cargo service to connect with Tangiers on the Moroccan coast has managed in a short time to position itself as a key operator in this market. The service, run by Marítima Peregar, started in mid-March and so far is doubling the amount it carries each month.

Currently an average of 20 freight vehicles or loaded trailers are travelling on the drive-on service, although the capacity is 100. The company hopes to get to about 50-60 vehicles or trailers in the medium term.

"To challenge the Port of Algeciras, with the time that the companies have been operating there, the number of shipping companies and its position as a sea bridge is very difficult," said Joaquín Pérez-Muñoz, head of Marítima Peregar.

Among the Peregar line's main customers is motor manufacturer Renault, which is in the habit of using Barcelona and Malaga as main ports to import new vehicles from Morocco.

The shipping line has quickly become part of the supply chain of components the Renault Tangiers plant needs for manufacturing. These are sent from Malaga.

Along with the automotive industry, textiles for Zara owner Inditex and fruit and vegetables are the three most important types of goods shipped. As with cars, in the case of clothing it is also a round trip, as the fabric reels are taken to North Africa and the finished Inditex garments, already hung on hangers, are taken back to Spain.

A delegation headed by the president of the Malaga Port Authority, Carlos Rubio, travelled last week to the Moroccan city, where they held meetings with the people in charge of the Tangier Med freight port to improve the coordination of the daily service.

In the case of Renault, the president of the port stressed that the relationship is two-fold, since the export of new cars is coupled with the fact that the Marítima Peregar line has become one of the preferred services for the shipment of parts for the manufacture of these cars. "In the end, it is a two-way street: from Spain we send components that form part of these cars, which are then exported through Malaga as new vehicles," he said. The Moroccan factory has the capacity to produce 1,000 cars per day.

Rubio added, "For all the businesspeople in Malaga who have a relationship with North Africa, [the service] is a real asset and provides fabulous facilities for importing and exporting."