Asia Pacific and worldwide air cargo tonnages rebound

Worldwide air cargo tonnages rebounded substantially last week with a six percent week-on-week (WoW) increase, thanks largely to a strong recovery from Asia Pacific origins linked to tariff policy reversals in the U.S. and volumes returning following holidays in Japan and South Korea.

"Two thirds of the six percent WoW global tonnage revival in week 20 (May 12-18) was generated by increases in flown chargeable weight from China and Hong Kong (up eight percent)," according to the latest weekly figures and analysis from WorldACD Market Data.

The rest came from Japan (+60 percent ) and South Korea (+21 percent), which were recovering, respectively, from Japan’s Golden Week holiday (April 29 to May 6) and from Children’s Day (May 5) in South Korea, the update added.

Meanwhile, spot rates on the China and Hong Kong to the U.S. have stabilised in the last two weeks at around $4 per kilo, after spiking in the second half of April, especially from Hong Kong.

Decline in flower shipments
The worldwide increase in tonnages was partially offset by WoW falls in demand from Central & South America (CSA, down four percent), linked to lower levels of flower shipments following Mother’s Day on May 11 in the U.S. and various other countries, along with small WoW declines from North America and Africa origins, the update added.

On the pricing side, worldwide average rates of $2.33 per kilo edged up slightly higher (two percent) in week 20 compared with the previous week, thanks largely to a two percent WoW increase from Asia Pacific origins, although both were down by four percent compared with week 20 last year. The pattern for spot rates was similar, with average worldwide spot rates of $2.50 rising two percent WoW but down three percent YoY, the update added.

"The biggest YoY change is for MESA origins where spot rates and overall average rates are down by -23 percent and -15 percent, respectively, compared with their inflated levels this time last year."