The chief executive of world-leading box carrier MSC, Søren Toft, is ”moderately optimistic” about outlooks for the world economy following the weak demand and falling container rates of recent quarters, he states in an interview with CNBC.

“I would say we are moderately optimistic that the world will resume again. I think when we come to the middle of this year, we’ll probably start seeing trade move,” Toft says in the interview.

“I would suspect when we get through the second quarter and into the middle of the year, we’ll start to see some positive signs.”

He highlights that inventories are still high in North America and Europe, which has a limiting effect on freight volumes, but once inventories are reduced, freight orders are bound to surge.

According to Toft, the US economy is ”in very positive shape.”

”I believe they’ve been able to slowly reduce inflation, and the job market is very strong. There’s basically full employment. So we still see the US as very strong and very positive,” says the chief exec.

He furthermore sees imminent signs of increased freight between China and Europe, suggesting that consumer demand is mobilizing.

“The return post-Chinese New Year has been positive.”

“We’re seeing good healthy volumes now out of China to North Europe. So we believe and hope that’s a trend for the coming months,” Toft states.

English edit: Kristoffer Grønbæk