Shipping confidence up from 5 to 5.1 in May: Moore Stephens
THE confidence level of respondents to a Moore Stephens survey on shipping markets in which they operate stood at 5.1 on a scale of one (low) to 10 (high) in May.
This marks a slight improvement on the 5.0 recorded in February, but is still the second lowest rating recorded since the survey was launched in May 2008 with a confidence rating of 6.8.
Confidence on the part of shipowners rose from 4.8 to 5.7, while the rating for charterers was slightly up from 3.9 in February to 4.0 in May. However, confidence among ship managers and brokers fell from 5.5 to 5.1 and from 5.1 to 4.3 respectively.
Geographically, confidence was up in Asia, from 4.4 in February to 5.2 in May, in Europe the rating rose from 5.1 to 5.2, and in North America from 4.7 to 5.0.
One respondent was quoted as saying: "Unless there is a drastic change in geopolitical events, shipping markets will remain in their present condition for another 12 months."
Another respondent noted: "World economies are in transition, and we have to adapt to a period when money is not so easy to come by."
Once again, a surfeit of tonnage and a paucity of scrapping were referenced by a number of respondents. One noted, "Far too many newbuildings in the ultra-to-VLOC size range will be hitting the market in the next 12-to-18 months."
Another respondent said: "Over-supply of tonnage is still the key influencing factor in the market, and there will be no real change until bold decisions are made in respect of scrapping tonnage which is less than twenty years old."
It was not all pessimism, however. One respondent insisted, "There are lots of opportunities in the market for smart operators. Those who merely follow the lead of others will, as always, suffer, because they do not understand the market."
The likelihood of respondents making a major investment or significant development over the next 12 months was up marginally on the previous survey, to 4.9 from 4.8 last time, which equalled the figure recorded in February 2009 as the lowest in the life of the survey to date.
Demand trends, competition and tonnage supply featured again as the top three factors cited by respondents as those likely to influence performance most significantly over the coming 12 months.
Demand trends, which were actually down by two percentage points to 24 per cent, remained in first place, with competition (up two percentage points to 23 per cent) in second place. Tonnage supply, up one percentage point to 16 per cent, occupied third place.
THE confidence level of respondents to a Moore Stephens survey on shipping markets in which they operate stood at 5.1 on a scale of one (low) to 10 (high) in May.
This marks a slight improvement on the 5.0 recorded in February, but is still the second lowest rating recorded since the survey was launched in May 2008 with a confidence rating of 6.8.
Confidence on the part of shipowners rose from 4.8 to 5.7, while the rating for charterers was slightly up from 3.9 in February to 4.0 in May. However, confidence among ship managers and brokers fell from 5.5 to 5.1 and from 5.1 to 4.3 respectively.
Geographically, confidence was up in Asia, from 4.4 in February to 5.2 in May, in Europe the rating rose from 5.1 to 5.2, and in North America from 4.7 to 5.0.
One respondent was quoted as saying: "Unless there is a drastic change in geopolitical events, shipping markets will remain in their present condition for another 12 months."
Another respondent noted: "World economies are in transition, and we have to adapt to a period when money is not so easy to come by."
Once again, a surfeit of tonnage and a paucity of scrapping were referenced by a number of respondents. One noted, "Far too many newbuildings in the ultra-to-VLOC size range will be hitting the market in the next 12-to-18 months."
Another respondent said: "Over-supply of tonnage is still the key influencing factor in the market, and there will be no real change until bold decisions are made in respect of scrapping tonnage which is less than twenty years old."
It was not all pessimism, however. One respondent insisted, "There are lots of opportunities in the market for smart operators. Those who merely follow the lead of others will, as always, suffer, because they do not understand the market."
The likelihood of respondents making a major investment or significant development over the next 12 months was up marginally on the previous survey, to 4.9 from 4.8 last time, which equalled the figure recorded in February 2009 as the lowest in the life of the survey to date.
Demand trends, competition and tonnage supply featured again as the top three factors cited by respondents as those likely to influence performance most significantly over the coming 12 months.
Demand trends, which were actually down by two percentage points to 24 per cent, remained in first place, with competition (up two percentage points to 23 per cent) in second place. Tonnage supply, up one percentage point to 16 per cent, occupied third place.