Air freight slowdown weighs on Dachser’s logistics revenue

Dachser reported a 12.6% decline in Air & Sea Logistics revenue to around €1.4 billion in 2025, as falling sea freight rates on the Asia–Europe route and a slight drop in air freight rates weighed on performance. After a strong start to the year, the market cooled, partly due to US tariffs, highlighting continued volatility in global air and sea freight.

The company said such fluctuations are typical of the sector and emphasised the growing importance of integrated end-to-end services. Dachser is focusing on linking European overland transport with air and sea freight to build more resilient and seamless supply chains for customers.

Overall, Dachser recorded total revenue of around €8.3 billion in 2025, up 3.1% year-on-year. Tonnage transported rose 5.8% to 46.7 million metric tons, while shipments increased 3.6% to 86.2 million. The company said it achieved this growth despite a challenging economic environment marked by stagnation in European core markets and uncertainty in global trade due to US tariff policy.

Recent acquisitions, including DACHSER & FERCAM Italia, Brummer in southern Germany and Austria, and Frigoscandia in the Nordic countries, contributed fully to Group revenue for the first time. Excluding these, growth would have been limited to 0.3%.

Dachser’s Road Logistics business, comprising European Logistics and Food Logistics, grew revenue by around 7% to €6.9 billion. Shipments in this segment increased 3.7% and tonnage rose 6.2%.

European Logistics revenue crossed €5 billion for the first time, reaching €5.1 billion, up 5.9%. Food Logistics performed strongly, with revenue rising 10.1% to over €1.8 billion, supported by acquisitions.

In Contract Logistics, Dachser expanded its warehouse capacity by around 240,000 pallet spaces across 174 locations worldwide, taking total capacity to over four million pallet spaces.

The company invested approximately €325 million in 2025 in network expansion, employees, digitalisation, and climate action, and plans to increase investments to over €350 million in 2026.

Dachser’s workforce increased by around 200 employees to approximately 37,500 worldwide.

Looking ahead, the company expects continued volatility, noting that Middle East hostilities are affecting air and sea freight capacity on Asia–Europe routes, while high fuel prices are adding pressure on transport costs. It said it will continue to follow its strategic path in 2026 with a focus on reliability and consistency.