Cargo Breaking News
The latest preliminary figures from WorldACD Market Data indicate that air cargo tonnages recovered at the end of January and the beginning of February, as expected after the early Lunar New Year this year, but the increase was significantly stronger than in the equivalent period last year.
Figures for week 5 (30 January to 5 February) show an increase of +11 per cent in worldwide tonnages compared with the previous week, following a large decrease the week before of -13 per cent, mainly driven by the Lunar New Year that started on 22 January. In the same period last year, tonnages increased by +3 per cent. After falling by around -8 per cent in week 4, the global average rate level recovered slightly (+1 per cent) compared with the previous week, similar to the trend observed last year, but prices remain well below their level prior to Lunar New Year.
Comparing weeks 4 and 5 with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), tonnages are down significantly (-8 per cent) below their combined total in weeks 2 and 3, with average worldwide rates also down by -8 per cent, despite a -4 per cent decrease in capacity – based on the more than 400,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data.
On a regional level, the effect of the Lunar New Year on air cargo tonnages was most notable on flows outbound from Asia Pacific to Europe (-41 per cent), North America (-40 per cent) and the Middle East & South Asia (-38 per cent), respectively, but also on intra-Asia Pacific flows (-23 per cent). Strong increases were recorded from Central & South America to North America (+37 per cent), from Africa to Europe (+29 per cent) and from Europe to North America (+10 per cent).
