ATHENS (Bloomberg) — Cyprus's shipping industry has "good" prospects for recovery from the global economic crisis, said Captain Eugen Adami, Cyprus Shipping Council president.

"Indicators are good and suggest that we have reached the bottom and can look forward to recovery," Adami said at the CSC's annual meeting in the southern port city of Limassol. "However, we still have to be very cautious with regard to supply and demand and should act wisely."

Shipbuilding prices have "bottomed out" because the cost of steel has risen and will soon break the $1,000 per metric ton mark, Adami said. High scrappage prices also mean retiring old vessels remains attractive for owners, he said.

CSC members own or manage more than 2,100 ships worldwide with total gross tonnage of 40 million tons. Cyprus has the third-largest fleet in the European Union and the tenth largest in the world, according to the Cyprus Shipping Council.

"Unfortunately, the smooth operation and further development of the Cyprus registry is still hampered by the Turkish ban on Cypriot-flagged ships and Cyprus-related vessels," Adami said.