Moore Stephens: Shipping Confidence Up Slightly from Record Lows

The latest Shipping Confidence Survey shows a rating of 5.1, recorded on a scale of 1 to 10, up from a record low of 5 reported in March.

Moore Stephens' latest Shipping Confidence Survey shows a rating of 5.1, recorded on a scale of 1 to 10, up from a record low of 5 reported in the last survey from March.

Owners' confidence increased over the period, growing from 4.8 to 5.7, as did that of charterers, whose rating increased from 3.9 to 4.0.

In contrast, Moore Stephens notes that confidence of managers and brokers were both down, falling from 5.5 to 5.1 and from 5.1 to 4.3, respectively.

Confidence was noted to be up in Asia, swelling from 4.4 to 5.2, while Europe also saw a slight increase from 5.1 to 5.2, and confidence in North America grew from 4.7 to 5.0.

Competition and tonnage supply were again among the top three factors that respondents felt were likely to influence market conditions over the next year.

"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," commented one respondent.

Respondents to the survey expressed a belief that the shipping markets will remain in challenging conditions for at least another year, noting that many economies are currently in transition.

However, some survey respondents did express optimism despite the current challenging market, with one commenting: "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."

As Ship & Bunker reported in March, all main respondent categories at the time had recorded a fall in confidence, including charterers, down from 5.5 to 3.9; and owners and managers, from 5.7 to 4.8 and from 5.8 to 5.5 respectively.