Air cargo rates firm up, says TAC Index

There was a distinctly firmer tone in air freight markets last week, according to the latest data from TAC Index.

"The overall Baltic Air Freight Index increased 4.8 percent in the week to September 25, cutting its decline over 12 months to -38.5 percent. With sources also reporting solid pre-order bookings for some major product launches, including the new iPhone, expectations are growing for a proper peak season bounce this year and stronger market through into Q1, the update added.

Rates were firm out of China in the run up to Golden Week with the index for outbound Hong Kong routes increasing 2.1 percent WoW, trimming its YoY decline to -35.8 percent, amid speculation that some forwarders – particularly on the e-commerce side – who have not secured sufficient capacity yet may be left scrambling and forced to pay higher rates in the coming weeks. "Outbound Shanghai was even stronger, rising +5.9 percent WoW to cut its YoY fall to -35.2 percent with rates to Europe rising as well as on TransPac routes."

Outbound Chicago rates showed a big rise, up 12.7 percent WoW to cut the YoY decline to -31.4 percent. "There were also big rises on some other major routes such as from Miami to South America and from Vietnam to Europe as well as to North America. One significant exception was out of India where rates were falling both to Europe and the U.S."