Is the financial crisis over for the transport industry?

Is the far-reaching shipping crisis from which our industry has been suffering coming to an end or is this a period of growth before the next crisis comes tumbling in? That’s the question posed by Deutsche Afrika Linien’s Heinrich von Rantzau in the company’s latest newsletter. And while Von Rantzau believes there are an equal number of pessimists and optimists, with DAL’s SA service having achieved encouraging results and with cargo volumes remaining steady, there’s clearly reason for optimism in the DAL camp. This is in line with the results of a recent survey undertaken by international legal firm, the Norton Rose Group, which reports that an increasing number of transport companies believe that economic recovery is under way – 21% in aviation (compared to 9% in 2009); 17% for shipping (compared to 9% in 2009); and 14% in rail (compared to 13% in 2009) The report, entitled the Norton Rose Group Way Ahead Transport Survey 2010, is the company’s second annual transport report and details the views of 679 international respondents from a range of companies involved in transport. Geographically the views were widely divergent. While only 12% in Europe and 13% in North America feel liquidity has returned to the market following the financial crisis, in Asia Pacific 26% feel liquidity has returned already, and a further 19% feel it will do so in the next 12 months.