Good news for the logistics sector: 2016 goes into the books as the best year since 2001. That is the main conclusion from the business survey of Transport en Logistiek Nederland (TLN). Logistics entrepreneurs are confident about the future. A point of attention remains the price level, which still lags behind in some segments.
The entrepreneurs surveyed rate the year 2016 with an 8.9, the highest mark since the first measurement on 2002. 8 per cent of entrepreneurs called the past year a 'very good year', 54 per cent talked about a 'good year' and 32 per cent rated 2016 as a 'normal year'. This positive assessment is partly due to increased business activity at 57 per cent of firms. For 31 per cent, activity remained the same as in 2015 and for 12 per cent, activity decreased in 2016.
The number of bankruptcies also decreased last year - a clear indicator that the sector fared much better in 2016. In road freight transport alone, the number of bankruptcies fell by as much as 87 per cent.
Price level remains the same
The report shows that the price level in the fourth quarter of 2016 remained the same as the price level in the third quarter. The number of entrepreneurs reporting higher prices actually dropped from 31 per cent (third quarter) to 30 per cent (fourth quarter). The number reporting equal prices rose from 62 per cent to 64 per cent and the number reporting lower prices fell from 7 per cent to 5 per cent. Interestingly, 32 per cent of all entrepreneurs reported being dissatisfied with current prices. 30 per cent are satisfied with this and 38 per cent are neutral.
2017: Increased activity and expansion
For 2017, 40 per cent of transport and logistics entrepreneurs expect an increase in business activity. 53 per cent expect activity to remain the same. That increasing activity may end up being higher, TLN predicts: 'Entrepreneurs in the sector are usually too modest when it comes to forecasting'.
The financial year-end also reached a record. Of all companies, 79 per cent closed 2016 positively, 13 per cent said they broke even and 8 per cent said they closed 2016 in the red. The mood indicator for the financial year-end reached its highest point in 12 years at 8.7. When forecasting for 2017, TLN expects entrepreneurs to be too modest again: "When asked what entrepreneurs expect from 2017 in business terms, the answers are also very modest. For 2017, 45 per cent are counting on a '(very) good' year, 51 per cent are counting on a 'normal' year and 4 per cent are taking into account a '(very) bad' year."
A large proportion of entrepreneurs plan to expand in 2017. 34 per cent expect to hire additional staff in the coming year, 27 per cent want to purchase additional equipment and 34 per cent want to expand logistics services.
Editorial LogistiekProfs
