Europe freight forwarder index rises 15 points in September
Cargo volume rose across Europe and across transport modes in September, according to the latest monthly poll of more than 150 freight forwarders.
Danske Bank said its European Freight Forwarding Index showed "some very positive signals," rising to 65 in September from 50 in August with 152 participating forwarders now indicating that volume is picking up.
"We see a broad-based recovery when looking across both countries and [transport] segments," the Danish bank said.
Forwarders' expectations fell slightly from 78 to 75 but are still at a very high level, indicating that they expect volume to improve further during the fourth quarter of 2009.
Eastern Europe was the strongest performing region with the index rising from 37 in August to 65 last month. Air freight was the top transport mode, registering an increase in its index from 40 to 71.
Danske Bank said it expects the European freight market to remain strong through the fourth quarter of the year.
The bank sees the first half of 2010 as the next critical period "when the current inventory cycle comes to an end and further improvement in freight volumes will have to be driven by a pickup in the underlying economy."
Danske Bank said its European Freight Forwarding Index showed "some very positive signals," rising to 65 in September from 50 in August with 152 participating forwarders now indicating that volume is picking up.
"We see a broad-based recovery when looking across both countries and [transport] segments," the Danish bank said.
Forwarders' expectations fell slightly from 78 to 75 but are still at a very high level, indicating that they expect volume to improve further during the fourth quarter of 2009.
Eastern Europe was the strongest performing region with the index rising from 37 in August to 65 last month. Air freight was the top transport mode, registering an increase in its index from 40 to 71.
Danske Bank said it expects the European freight market to remain strong through the fourth quarter of the year.
The bank sees the first half of 2010 as the next critical period "when the current inventory cycle comes to an end and further improvement in freight volumes will have to be driven by a pickup in the underlying economy."