The Asia-Pacific region continues to be a region of much opportunity for freight forwarders, although the rest of the year may not be as robust as the first half, according to the latest results of the APAC Forwarding Index, which measures monthly trade volumes to and from as well as within this geographic region.
For APAC airfreight, survey respondents for July noted little change and even a slight dip in volumes from June to July, said research and consulting company Logistics Trends & Insights, which is set to formally launch the index next month.
Still, both months were strong from a volume perspective as noted by several airlines, airports and associations. In fact, Hong Kong reported airfreight increased 11% in July. Exports increased 15% while transshipments increased 10%.
“The three-month outlook for airfreight, however, is getting a bit cloudy as the majority of respondents expect volumes to remain about the same and in some cases such as the Europe to APAC lane, to decline,” said the report. Not surprisingly, November typically experiences a slight dip and then picks up in December to supply last-minute inventory shortages for the final days in the holiday period.
With the 2018 Chinese New Year falling in mid-February of next year, airfreight will probably get a big boost later in January to ensure adequate inventory levels during the New Year holiday, said the report.
Meanwhile, most survey respondents indicated higher month-to-month ocean volumes from June to July across all trade lanes. In the U.S., ports such as Savannah reported a record July with the growth attributed to trade with APAC.
Asian ports noted good July gains including Singapore, up 12.1% year-over-year for the month and a 2.1% increase from June. Shanghai also had a good July with TEUs up 5.2% year-over-year and a 1.2% increase from June.
Little change is expected in the ocean freight three-month outlook for most of the trade lanes. However, the APAC-North America lane will likely remain the most active with further volume growth expected. The emerging markets also look to be promising with the majority of respondents indicating growth expectations on these lanes.
As for intra-Asia trade, this continues to be a promising growth spot for forwarders. Month-to-month volume gains were noted in all modes of transport. The three-month outlook also looks healthy in particular for road and rail. China’s rail freight volume from January to June increased 15.3% year-over-year. In June, the volume increased 16.3%, an 11th consecutive monthly rise.
“As noted, buying habits of Asians have not only improved but are increasing thanks to the expanding middle-class. We expect intra-Asia to play a bigger role in Asian supply chains as a result,” said Logistics Trends & Insights.
For the remainder of the year, it expects steady freight flows for APAC but these are not expected to be as heavy as previous months.
Photo: Guillaume Baviere
