Monday, 14 March 2016

Egypt, India and Israel Freight Transport and Shipping Report Q2 2016; New Report Launched

Egypt, India and Israel Freight Transport and Shipping Report Q2 2016

Egypt's economy will continue to bounce back over the coming quarters on the back of political stability, pent-up demand and a weaker currency. While this will be good for the country's exports, it does mean that its domestic consumer demand for imports of container goods will slow. Nevertheless, a steady improvement in tourism will support demand for imports from this segment of the economy.

Although our growth forecasts for volumes carried on Egypt's different freight modes in 2016 and 2017 are not for spectacular growth, they are nevertheless positive and will remain so over the course of our forecast period to 2020, due to a relatively upbeat macroeconomic and trade outlook for the country.

This is especially the case when compared to recent years, as political turmoil since the ousting of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 has led to a dampening in economic expansion. Trade dynamics in Egypt will continue to improve in the coming quarters owing to a stabilisation in the political landscape. Currency weakness will make exports more competitiveness, though moderate consumer demand and costlier foreign goods will ensure imports do not soar.


Growth in India's freight transport sector will be underpinned by stable economic growth and an expanding manufacturing sector. We expect the country's ports, road and rail sector will be the primary beneficiaries of Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign to boost manufacturing output. Meanwhile, rising consumer demand and a buoyant pharmaceutical sector will see air freight growth outperform the other freight modes.

We estimate moderate trade growth in real terms in 2015 (ending March 2016), rising by 1.8% - although this is an improvement on the real contraction recorded in 2014. Growth will accelerate in 2016, rising to 2.7%. Exports will be the key driver of growth in both years - in 2015 exports will rise by 2.5% compared to imports' 1.0%, while in the following year the growth levels will be 3.5% and 1.8% respectively.

In positive news for air freight and the road haulage sector, we expect the government's efforts to boost the manufacturing sector through the 'Make In India' campaign to continue gaining traction, which is evident in various high frequency data.


We forecast a positive growth trend across Israeli freight transportation models in 2016 and over the course of our forecast period. This development is a marked improvement over recent years, when the sector witnessed declining volumes owing to sluggish macroeconomic growth. Furthermore, a domestic slowdown coupled with a sluggish economic environment in major trade partner Europe - and political instability on its borders with other states, and with Gaza. Political risk is always a threat in Israel and could threaten to derail our forecast.

Latest Updates And Forecasts
  • We forecast total road freight volumes will increase by 3.28% in 2016 to reach 26.69mn tonnes. Growth will rise to 3.33% in 2017.
  • We forecast total rail freight volumes will climb 4.0% in 2016 to reach 8.15mn tonnes. Growth will be 4.1% in 2017.
  • We forecast total air freight volumes will rise by 1.15% in 2016 to reach 286,186 tonnes. Growth will be 1.1% in 2017.
  • We forecast total nominal trade value to rise by 5.30% to reach USD175.9bn in 2016.
  • The top trade partners will be the US, China, Germany, the UK, Belgium and Switzerland.

No comments:

Post a Comment