Another tough year ahead for the shipping industry

IT will come as little surprise that, according to the latest Shipping Confidence Survey from international accounting and shipping adviser Moore Stephens, overall confidence levels in the shipping industry fell in the three months to November 2015.

The firm says the average confidence level expressed by respondents in the markets in which they operate was 5.6 on a scale of one (low) to 10 (high). This compares to the 5.9 recorded in August. Interestingly, confidence was up in Asia, from 5.8 to 6.0, but down in Europe from 5.9 to 5.4, and in North America from 6.3 to 5.7.

Moore Stephens notes that many respondents expressed continuing concern about overtonnaging and excess shipbuilding capacity. One observed: "The over-ordering of ships by investment funds, together with the huge shipbuilding capacity created by China, are not conducive to an orderly market, with the result that shipping investments remain very risky."