Archives
Freight News, Logistics, Sea
Market Sentiment Index Reflects Uncertainty
[ May 13, 2025 // Gary Burrows ]The 17th edition of the One World’s Market Sentiment Index, or MSI, for the multipurpose and breakbulk industry, shows further slippage in sentiment from 54.3 in the last edition to 53.3 in this edition but still above 50 which marks the point between generally positive and negative sentiment.
In recent weeks the worlds’ attention has been squarely on Donald Trump; the tariffs, the decision of the U.S. Trade Representative over port charge hikes for Chinese built and/or operated ships, and the implications for world trade. With equity and bond markets convulsing after the Rose Garden tariff announcements, the moratorium that quickly followed stemmed a meltdown of the financial system.
In the edition of the MSI, carriers’ concerns were chiefly about the uncertainty in the developing commercial environment but relieved when the USTR exempted all but a small handful of MPP carriers from the punitive port charges.
With the MPV fleet now more or less in balance with cargo demand the industry sits in a place not experienced in over a decade. While sentiment has dipped, it reflects a general mood and might have dipped a lot further but for the equilibrium.
Tags: Market Sentiment Index, MSI, One World