Survey: Fewer shipping companies planning railcar orders in Q3 2016

It’s not all bad news, however, as the shipping and logistics providers planning railcar orders said they were more certain about placing those orders compared with the second quarter, according to a survey conducted by investment firm Cowen and Co.    Fewer shipping and logistics providers are planning to place orders for railcars in the third quarter of 2016, according to a survey conducted by investment firm Cowen and Co.
   About 37 percent of survey respondents said they will or may order railcars in the next twelve months, down from 42 percent and 48 percent, respectively, in the firm’s Q2 and Q1 2016 surveys.
   It’s not all bad news, however, as those companies still planning railcar orders said they were more certain about placing those orders, and order sizes increased compared with the second quarter.
   Within the group of participants that indicated they were likely to place orders, 67 percent answered “yes,” up significantly from 36 percent in Q2 2016, while 33 percent said “maybe,” compared with 64 percent last quarter.
   “This suggests that the level of certainty about ordering railcars among the shippers planning to place orders has increased,” Cowen and Co. said in a recent client note, adding that “results on a same-shipper basis are even a bit more encouraging.”
   Around 46 percent of companies that also participated in last quarter’s survey said they will or may order railcars in the next twelve months, up from 42 percent in Q2 2016.
   Cowen and Co. said it views the survey results as “neutral to slightly positive” for railcar equipment providers, specifically favoring suppliers Trinity Industries Inc. and Greenbrier Companies, Inc.