Recent stabilisation in air cargo demand fades in August

A partial recovery in air cargo volumes in the second half of July faded in August as Asia outbound demand began to weaken.

Statistics from data provider WorldACD show that in the two weeks ending August 14, worldwide cargo volumes in chargeable weight decreased by 5% compared with the final two weeks of July and were down 11% on last year.

In July, the first two weeks registered a 10% decline in cargo volumes compared with the previous two-week period, while the second two weeks saw demand increase by 1%.

“Global air cargo flown tonnages and prices continued their gradual decline in the first two weeks of August after volumes staged a brief and partial recovery in the second half of July,” WorldACD said.

“On the tonnage side, chargeable weight from Africa to Europe and vice versa are on a particularly negative trend, with a decrease of 14% and 10%, respectively, in the first two weeks of August compared with the preceding two weeks,” the company added.

Europe outbound volumes also showed a negative trend to all regions, with an overall average decrease of 7% on two weeks earlier and 5% year on year.

“Europe’s inbound volumes from the all-important Asia Pacific region were also down significantly (-8%) in the first two weeks of August compared with the preceding two weeks,” WorldACD added.

“Asia Pacific outbound volumes as a whole [in the first two weeks of August compared with the preceding two weeks] were down 5%, including a 3% drop to North America, with Asia Pacific outbound volumes down 19% compared with the same period last year.”

Meanwhile, rates in the first two weeks of August were up 8% on last year but have declined 4% since the end of June.

“Higher fuel surcharges continue to influence overall air cargo prices relative to their levels last year,” WorldACD said. “Although jet fuel price levels have softened in the last few weeks, they remain around 80% higher than this time last year.”