Air cargo grew at a minimal rate in July 2018, the second month in a row with only limited year-over-year growth, according to new market data from WorldACD.
The air cargo market expanded just 0.5% in volume terms and 0.8% in direct ton kilometers. When DTKs grow more than volume, it means cargo has shifted to longer haul markets, said WorldACD.
It added that the technical problems the Japanese carrier NCA faced recently had probably negatively influenced year-on-year growth figures for June and July.
The worldwide air cargo yield dropped slightly to US$1.88 in July 2018, or 0.6% lower than in June, but still 12.2% higher than in July 2017. Measured in euros, the yield decreased by 2.2% month-over-month, while the year-over-year increase was 10.5%.
Volumes from the origins Africa and Europe contracted 8.3% and 1.3%, respectively in July year-on-year. Latin America kept growing (+9.5%), while volumes from other areas hardly changed. The destinations Middle East and South Asia (MESA) and Europe were the only ones showing more than 1% year-on-year growth in July.
For the year so far, Latin America is the fastest growing origin region (+11.6%) and Europe the fastest growing destination (+5.6%).
Volume growth for the first seven months of 2018 was 3.3% year-on-year, while DTK growth fell to 4.1% year-on-year.
From January to July, the weight of the average shipment increased by 1.9% year-on-year. The number of shipments above 1,000 kilograms grew much faster year-on-year (+4.8%) than the number of shipments in the smaller weight breaks. WorldACD opined that this stronger growth, particularly from Asia Pacific, might partly be caused by an increase in consolidated e-commerce shipments.
The report also noted that 10 years after 2008, worldwide volume growth is still 31% despite the considerable year-on-year volume drops in 2009, the year the financial crisis hit. This figure translates into an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 2.7%.
The big inter-regional markets performed as follows:
* Asia Pacific to Europe: +20% (AAGR 1.8%)
* Europe to Asia Pacific: +80% (AAGR 6.0%)
* North America to Europe: +9% (AAGR 0.9%)
* Europe to North America: +46% (AAGR 3.8%)
* Asia Pacific to North America: +39% (AAGR 3.4%)
* North America to Asia Pacific: +46% (AAGR 3.8%)
* Europe to Middle East & South Asia: +60% (AAGR 4.8%)
* Middle East & South Asia to Europe: +36% (AAGR 3.2%)
The top origin countries in terms of percentage growth in each of the six regions are Vietnam, with +275% (AAGR 14.1%); Ethiopia: +151% (AAGR 9.6%); Sri Lanka: +133% (AAGR 8.8%); Norway: +118% (AAGR 8.1%); Mexico: +82% (AAGR 6.2%); and Ecuador: +65% (AAGR 5.2%).
For Asia Pacific, Vietnam also led the list of top destination countries in terms of percentage growth in each of six regions, with +194% (AAGR of 11.4%). The others are Qatar: +163% (AAGR of 10.2%); Mexico: +87% (AAGR of 6.5%); Russia: +71% (AAGR of 5.5%); Kenya: +57% (AAGR of 4.6%); and Brazil: +37% (AAGR of 3.2%).
Photo: Marek Vanzura
