There was little change in the latest Stifel Logistics Confidence Index. Seasonal trends seem to be occurring as airfreight confidence index increased 0.8 points and the sea freight index slipped 1.0 points. Combined, the overall Logistics Confidence Index declined just 0.1 points to 57.3. However, despite the overall present situation increasing 0.3 points, the overall 6 month-expected situation fell 0.5 points. This suggests that perhaps storm clouds may in fact be brewing for freight forwarders. Despite a strengthening US economy, the Eurozone’s economy remains troubling as the latest PMI figures continue to show weakness. Meanwhile, China’s economy has cooled even further with its official PMI figures now hovering just slightly above expansion level. Present Situation The airfreight index noted positive gains for all trade lanes except for the US to Europe lane. This lane noted a 0.4 point drop to 53.6. This could be due to the weak European economy. Interesting though was the Europe to US lane which had the biggest month-to-month gain at 2.6 points to 54.7. Perhaps the euro decline has attributed to this demand. Meanwhile, while still a lane that is in contraction, the Europe to Asia lane improved 0.2 points to 47.2. The sea freight index faltered, slipping 0.4 points for the current month. The Asia to Europe lane was the only lane to record a positive month-to-month gain at 2.0 points to 58.0. The biggest decliner was the US to Europe lane which fell 1.4 points into contraction territory, 49.7. 6-Month Expected Situation Survey respondents were positive in regards to air freight 6-month outlook. The index increased 0.7 points to 58.7. However, it appears the worrisome signs coming from Europe are weighing on survey respondents as US to Europe and Asia to Europe lanes declined 2.6 and 1.4 points respectively. Still, big gains were noted on the Europe outbound lanes, increasing 3.7 points to 63.9 for the US and up 2.8 points to 58.9 for Asia. For sea freight, the index fell 1.4 points. Europe to Asia lane was the only one to register a positive gain, up 0.9 points to 64.3. Asia to Europe lane had the biggest drop, declining 4.8 points to 62.2 and the US lanes both declined: Europe to the US down 0.2 points to 66.6 and US to Europe down 2.0 points to 56.9.