Air cargo peak season appears to be peaking: TAC Index

The air cargo peak season for 2023 appears to be peaking, according to the latest data from TAC Index, the leading price reporting agency (PRA) for air freight. “Following a series of rises in recent weeks, the overall Baltic Air Freight Index was slightly lower by 0.1 percent in the week to December 18, leaving it lower by 14 percent over the last 12 months,” says the latest update. Air freight prices outbound from Hong Kong – still the biggest airport in the world by cargo volume – kept going up last week, rising by a further one percent WoW to put that index ahead by nine percent YoY, led by a continuing rise in rates to North America. “However, outbound Shanghai gave back some ground after the recent surge, falling three percent WoW with rates to the U.S. dropping to leave that index only narrowly ahead YoY by 0.3 percent.” Market conditions continued to be mixed out of Europe, the update added. “Outbound Frankfurt gained six percent WoW, showing gains on rates both to China and to the U.S. though still lower by 48 percent YoY. Outbound London enjoyed no such bounce with rates falling on all major lanes to show a further WoW fall of five percent and a huge YoY drop of 57 percent. Meanwhile, the latest significant new addition to the data this week were air cargo rates from Europe to Japan, which showed a gain of three percent WoW.”