Air cargo volume growth in Asia-Pacific has posted double-digit increases for four months in a row, as May showed a formidable year-over-year increase in global airfreight traffic, according to the latest report from WorldACD.
Global volumes in May rose 12.8% year-over-year in terms of chargeable weight (13.8% in direct tonne kilometers), coupled with a year-on-year yield rise of 5% in U.S. dollar and 7% in euro terms.
For the first five months of the year, worldwide chargeable weight increased 10% year-over-year and revenues 11% in U.S. dollar terms (15% in euro).
“Macro-economic indicators seem to hint that the present situation looks fairly robust,” said the report.
The Asia-Pacific region has now recorded double-digit year-over-year volume increases for four months in a row, resulting in a year-to-date growth of 14%. China and Hong Kong, which accounted for about half of the region’s air cargo, grew even faster, but they were topped by Vietnam (+31%) and the Philippines (+26%). Volumes from Australia and New Zealand, on the other hand, contracted.
On intra-regional trade, while China and Hong Kong send only a quarter of their air cargo to destinations in the region, Japan and Southeast Asia send almost half of their total exports by air within Asia-Pacific.
Meantime, Europe and North America (the latter mainly in incoming traffic) are performing well, too. “Although the economic recovery in Eastern Europe and Latin America is slower than elsewhere, air cargo from these regions is now clearly picking up. The laggards of early 2017 are therefore Africa and the Middle East,” said WorldACD.
The report attributed the surge in air cargo since the second half of 2016 in large part to a rise in general cargo movements, supported by e-commerce and consumer demand.
“General cargo is on the rise. And that is not just the case in Asia Pacific, it is the worldwide trend in the year so far. With the exception of pharmaceuticals, specific cargo categories experience slower growth than general cargo,” said the report.
It noted that within the Asia-Pacific region, the transport of live animals, perishable goods and pharmaceuticals all showed a negative growth in the year so far, pharmaceuticals losing 31.7% year-over-year. Only the small segment of express cargo (+22.6%) outstripped the overall intra-regional growth of 12.7%.
The report also opined that growth in e-commerce may be one factor helping to explain the surge in air cargo. “Yet, we do not see this trend reflected in large increases in express air cargo. We note the largest growth in regular shipments weighing more than 1,000 kilograms, a clear sign (i) that most e-commerce finds the regular speed of air cargo good enough, and (ii) that e-commerce is definitely not a matter of individual small parcels flying across the globe!”
Increasing consumer demand in general (and for electronics in particular) may be another contributing factor, fueled by an increase in purchasing power, most clearly in a number of Asian markets.
Photo: Tksteven
