Overall air cargo volume growth continued to hit the double-digit range in July, and yields also saw significant expansion during the period, according to the latest data from WorldACD.
Air freight grew 11.8% worldwide in July year-on-year, caused by above-average growth from the origins Europe (14.2%), Middle East and South Asia or MESA (13.5%), and Asia-Pacific (13%), and below-average growth for other regions. The origins South America and Africa did rather poorly (only 3.6% and 2.6% growth, respectively), said the air cargo market data service provider.
MESA and Asia-Pacific were the fastest growing destinations (14.9% and 13.3% increase, respectively) for the month. General cargo continued to increase faster (+12.6%) than the other product categories (+9%), except for pharmaceuticals (+17.6%).
In terms of yields, July saw a considerable worldwide year-on-year increase of 7.8% in U.S. dollar terms. The Asia-Pacific region contributed heavily to the impressive growth with a 13.2% yield expansion for business originating in the area.
Month-over-month, however, worldwide yields did not increase: they were stable when measured in U.S. dollars, and posted a loss of 2% to 3% in Euros. North America was a good destination to send goods to. While incoming volume remained the same in July as in June, yields for business to the region were slightly better month-on-month, but increased by 15.6% year-on-year.
Surprisingly, for the first time this year, the origin China did not see double-digit growth in July after months of doing so, said the report. China, the world’s air cargo engine, grew only 8% after months of double-digit acceleration that averaged 19%. Its growth in July was also below the world market rate after growing faster than the world market in previous months. Air cargo compensated from places of high growth like Hong Kong, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and the Netherlands to achieve its July growth of 11.8% year-on-year. In contrast, incoming traffic in China continues to boom (+21% year-on-year).
On carriers and their share of specific air cargo product categories year-to-date, WorldACD, which collects inputs from over 70 airlines for its database, said African carriers increased their share in specific products compared to the same period in 2016. The increase was to the detriment of carriers from Europe and MESA.
In turn, the Europeans compensated by gaining share ex Asia-Pacific, a market in which the home carriers lost some ground. For the origin Europe, meanwhile, European carriers themselves lost ground. But MESA carriers gained considerable market share and looked particularly strong in their own region, continuing to control the majority of specific product transport originating in their area.
Finally, carriers from the Americas increased their share in specific products from their region. Notably, carriers from the Americas have a much higher overall share from Latin America than from North America.
