Shippers, forwarders prep for turbulent air cargo market

Kapoklog Brief:

Freight forwarders are working with shippers to strategize how to manage a shifting air cargo market landscape as peak season approaches, Xeneta's Chief Airfreight Officer Niall van de Wouw said in a Sept. 5 report.

E-commerce volumes remain a major market indicator, with exported goods from China already up 30% this year, Xeneta reported. In July alone, there were reportedly 37 million downloads of the Temu app.

Van de Wouw said that shippers should be "nervous" for Q4. "We expect to see a seller's market out of Asia and across the Atlantic due to the latter's reduction in winter capacity. We've had a hot summer, and we may have an even hotter autumn ahead."

kapoklog Insight:

The average air cargo spot rate reached its largest year-over-year growth of 24% to $2.68 per kilogram, Xeneta reported.

On a corridor level, rates on shipments bound for North America saw the largest monthly increase from July - which is typically regarded as the industry's "slack season."

Rates from Europe to North America, for instance, were up 7% month over month to $1.77 per kilogram in August, possibly due to the "surging transshipments originating from Asia," according to the report. Meanwhile, Southeast and Northeast to North America rates were up 6% MoM and 4% MoM to $6.15 per kilogram and $4.68 per kilogram, respectively.