SPAIN: The board of national operator RENFE has selected Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co’s inland logistics subsidiary Medlog as strategic partner to help it develop freight business RENFE Mercancías into an integrated logistics business.
The search for a strategic partner for RENFE Mercancías has been underway for more than a year, with more than 30 candidates considered and Mærsk and CMA-CGM also shortlisted.
The choice of Medlog on September 25 now needs to be ratified by the government before details are finalised.
It is envisaged that a 50:50 joint venture would be formed. This would lease the RENFE Mercancías fleet of locomotives and wagons, and all 945 RENFE Mercancías employees would be guaranteed jobs either within Medlog or as part of RENFE.
The UGT trade union condemned the plan as ‘a covert privatisation’, and said it could have adverse consequences for other RENFE subsidiaries including its maintenance business.
Market share
Previous attempts to put RENFE Mercancías on a firmer footing have failed, partly on account of competition from open access operators — RENFE Mercancías currently has about 53% of the Spanish rail freight market — and from road haulage.
In 2022 it recorded losses of €38·4m, despite a 22% increase in revenue to €231·7m in 2021. Last year the operator moved 14·6 million tonnes of freight, including 642 000 TEUs, 4·3% down on 2021. The national rail freight market totalled 24 million tonnes, down 6·2% on 2021.
Medway
MSC acquired Portugal’s national freight operator CP Carga in 2016 and branded it as Medway.
The Medway business now operates in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain and Italy, and owns rolling stock operated by partners in Turkey and India. It runs more than 40 000 trains/year, covering over 8·2 million km, with a fleet of 115 locomotives and 4 800 wagons.
In late 2022 MSC also acquired Bolloré’s Sitarail, Camrail and Bénirail railway concessions in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Bénin and Niger.
