Confidence levels among EU forwarders reached an all-time low in December according to the Stifel Logistics Confidence Index (LCI).
Jointly produced with Transport Intelligence, this monthly survey of shippers and forwarders measures freight activity across several European-based trade lanes.
The index fell for a seventh consecutive month, reaching a new all-time low of 45.4 - the third sub-50 reading in a row, according to TI, indicating that the market is squarely in contraction.
“In fact, this month's result was 1.9 index points below the previous all-time low in October 2012, when the market was in the depths of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis,” according to the report.
“Year-over-year declines are well into double-digits across air and sea freight for the current trends, and for the six-month expected outlook, and in almost every measured Europe-based trade lane.”
The only lane showing some positive growth was the Europe-US route, which was boosted by the strong US dollar.
