South Korea’s flagship liner operator HMM has become a partner of Spain’s Sea & Ports Group, as it eyes cargo business in North Africa.
Sea & Ports operates intra-North Africa feeder services through a subsidiary, Marguisa, which will become HMM’s exclusive agent in Libya.
North Africa is primarily served by mainly European and Middle Eastern feeder operators from some of the main Mediterranean hubs, as its container volumes do not yet justify direct calls from large ships.
An HMM spokesperson said: “We are exploring and reviewing new business opportunities in some regions including North Africa. It’s premature to talk about detailed matters at this stage. We will have a chance to make internal discussions about this subject from multiple angles.”
HMM’s choice of Sea & Ports as its North African representative was based on its long experience in Spain and Portugal. And the move follows Sea & Ports’ entry into the North Africa market in 2022, with operations in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. More recently, it has ventured into Libya, one market HMM is exploring.
Xeneta’s chief analyst, Peter Sand, said that as tonnage tightened with the Red Sea crisis, freight rates for Asia-North Africa had more than doubled, to $7,300 per 40ft, from $3,300 in December.
He said: “West Africa in particular and Sub-Saharan Africa in general saw imports from the Far East grow more than 20% in 2023. At the same time, West Mediterranean and North Africa has grown by little more than 10%.
“If you have the right connections on the ground, it can make sense for any carrier to enter a market.”