Average worldwide air cargo tonnages slipped -1 percent in the first full week of August, compared with the previous week, while rates continued to hold steady. With the latest decline, global tonnages have dropped since the start of July by 3 percent, while the average overall rate remained stable at US$2.50.
According to the latest figures from WorldACD Market Data, average global spot rates rose by a further +3 percent in the first full week of August compared with the start of July, to US$2.71 a kilo, which is up +22 percent year on year (YoY), while contract rates in the same period remained flat at US$2.40. The full-market average of spot rates and contract rates of US$2.50 is up +46 percent compared with the last pre-Covid equivalent period, August 2019.
Based on the more than 450,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data, average worldwide pricing went up slightly (+1 percent) in week 32 (5 to 11 August) compared with the previous week, with rates from Africa origins down by -2 percent, but rates from the other main global origin regions holding firm or increasing slightly. Compared with last year, rates of $2.50 per kilo in week 32 were up by +13 percent, thanks largely to YoY increases of +55 percent from Middle East and South Asia (MESA) origins and +23 percent from Asia Pacific origins, while rates from Europe were down -11 percent.
Combining the figures for weeks 31 and 32, both tonnages and rates are down slightly (-1 percent) compared with the previous two weeks (2Wo2W), similar to last week’s report. Tonnages and rates are still largely up compared with last year though, by +9 percent and +12 percent, respectively, mainly driven by Asia Pacific and MESA origin traffic, while worldwide capacity has increased by +5 percent, YoY.
Regional developments
When looking at specific developments by region or country, it is notable that tonnages out of China to the US decreased further with a week on week (WoW) drop of -7 percent in week 32, the fourth decline in five weeks, bringing the overall contraction on this country pair to -12 percent when comparing with the start of July. Tonnages out of Vietnam to Europe sank by -6 percent from week 31 to week 32, making it a third consecutive weekly decline, while spot rates are stable, at almost threefold last year’s levels (+176 percent YoY to US$4.76).
As already mentioned in last week’s report, outbound tonnages from Bangladesh were recovering from the unrest in July. The upward trend became much less pronounced though (+4 percent WoW in week 32, compared with +39 percent WoW in week 31), while spot rates continued to rise strongly (+151 percent in week 32, compared with +169 percent in week 31).
Asia Pacific to the USA has remained a key sector in driving up overall average prices since the end of June, with spot rates averaging slightly above $5.80 a kilo in the last three weeks. Compared with week 32 last year, spot rates from Asia Pacific to the USA were up by +64 percent. Tonnages from China to Los Angeles slid further with a -5 percent drop WoW drop in week 32, leading to the strongest year-on-year decline (-21 percent) since volumes started sinking six weeks ago, while spot rates stabilised around +30 percent YoY.
