Signs of growth in some sectors of the shipping industry could indicate that Ireland is pulling out of the economic recession, a business seminar heard today.
The Business Statistics Seminar, hosted by the Central Statistics Office, in Dublin Castle was told that there were evidence of recovery in some sectors, with sectors such as agricultural products showing more activity.
Glenn Murphy of the Irish Maritime Development Organisation said shipping could be viewed as a barometer of the economy.
"Shipping is a very good indicator in terms of providing a quick snapshot of what's going on in the real economy at any point in time," he said. "It covers a multitude of business segments and business classes."
The main container market in Ireland - the lift on, lift off sector - has seen significant decline in recent months, with seven consecutive periods of negative volume growth. Recent expansion in the sector was fuelled by large volumes of imports linked to construction, household spending and low value goods from China.
However, the situation has begun to improve a little.
"We've started to see the rate of decline ease and see a correction in terms of some recovery in volume," Mr Murphy said.
The traditional uptake in volumes usually seen in September in advance of the Christmas period was not observed in 2008. However, this year volumes rose 17 per cent in September on August figures, largely driven by imports.
"We're starting to see maybe a little more confidence come into the economy, more people buying. It may also be down to the fact that some industries reached very low levels and have started to restock," he said. "We think it's a positive indicator."
However, smaller ports around the country are facing tough times from the impact of the downturn in building. Mr Murphy said that the fall off in "break bulk" shipping, for which 90 per cent of the products were related to the construction sector, would hit regional ports badly.
"The outlook for this sector is pretty bleak. We don't see any short term recovery which is a big problem for a lot of ports," he said.
"The share of the pain in terms of the downturn in the particular sector is spread amongst a lot more ports. We can see pain around the smaller regional ports, who have done very well out of the boom in the economy, are going to find life a lot more difficult now or are going to have to start thinking outside the box."
He also warned that oil prices continued to pose a threat to the economy.
