'Unwarranted optimism'

To say that a recovery
of the shipping industry
is on the horizon is
unwarranted optimism,
according to Glenn Delve,
marketing director of
shipping line, MSC.
“My gut feeling is
that a recovery is not
really taking place at the
moment,” he told FTW.
“The trend in the market
varies between f lat and
marginally upward. But
that depends on the trade.”
In the SA context, Delve
doesn’t see any upturn
in exports because of the
global recession. At the
same time, he noted that
the weak rand was also
holding back imports.
“The 7.5% growth rate
in SA seafreight is still
reasonable for a country to
have. But there is no great
increase in mineral exports
from SA – a vital part of
this country’s export trade.
There’s a bit of an upturn
in manganese, but it’s
quite f lat in the others.
“None of this indicates
recovery.”