Moore Stephens reports small rise in shipping confidence

By Tom Eddershaw - June 23, 2016.

Overall confidence levels in the shipping industry rose slightly in the three months before May 2016, according to the latest shipping confidence survey from shipping adviser Moore Stephens.

The average confidence level expressed by respondents was 5.1 on a scale of 1 to 10. This is a slight improvement on the 5.0 recorded in February 2016, but is still the second lowest rating in the life of the survey.

Economic and geopolitical uncertainty was uppermost in the thoughts of many respondents, Moore Stephens said.

“Overall world economic growth is still not moving concertedly in a positive direction, so that we have what might best be described as a patchy global economic recovery,” one respondent said.

“Unless there is a drastic change in geopolitical events, shipping markets will remain in their present condition for another 12 months,” another warned.

Confidence from owners increased from 4.8 to 5.7, and charterers were also slightly more optimistic than in February, their rating rising from 3.9 to 4.0.

Confidence among managers and brokers, however, was down, from 5.5 to 5.1 and from 5.1 to 4.3 respectively.

Geographically, albeit from very low levels last time, confidence was up in Asia, from 4.4 to 5.2, in Europe from 5.1 to 5.2, and in North America from 4.7 to 5.0.