tin tức
IATA: Cargo volumes continue to grow in May despite trade turmoil
IATA: Cargo volumes continue to grow in May despite trade turmoil
Air cargo demand continued to grow in May despite the US implementation of steep tariffs and the ending of the de minimis exemption for shipments from China.
The latest monthly statistics from IATA show that air cargo demand increased by 2.2% year on year in May, while capacity was up 2% and the load factor increased by 0.1 percentage points to 44.5%.
Growth has slowed compared with the year so far, as the growth rate for the first five months stands at 3.2% year on year.
While overall volumes were up, IATA said that demand on the trade lane from Asia to North America had declined by 10.7%.
However, this was more than made up for by other trades, such as Asia-Europe, which was up by 13.4%, there was a 10.8% improvement on Middle East-Asia services, the within-Asia trade improved by 9.1% and North America-Europe grew by 8.2%.
IATA said the “significant decrease” in the Asia-North America trade lane was expected as the effect of front-loading faded and changes to the de-minimis exemption on small package shipments were enforced.
“As cargo flows reorganised, several route areas responded with surprising growth,” the airline association explained.
IATA director general Willie Walsh said: “Air cargo demand globally grew 2.2% in May. That is encouraging news, as a 10.7% drop in traffic on the Asia to North America trade lane illustrated the dampening effect of shifting US trade policies.
“Even as these policies evolve, already we can see the air cargo sector’s well-tested resilience helping shippers to accommodate supply chain needs to flexibly hold back, re-route or accelerate deliveries.”
During the month, US tariffs on Chinese products reached as high as 145%, although the two countries later reached an agreement that saw the tariffs reduced to 30% for a 90-day period.
There were reports of a surge in shipments to the US once the tariff reduction was announced, as companies looked to take advantage of the lower rate and others were catching up.
Meanwhile, the removal of the de minimis exemption means packages from China transported by a commercial airline will need to pay a 30% tariff rate, or, when using postal networks, they will be subject to a rate of 54% or a flat fee of $100.
Figures from consultant Aevean show that much of the US e-commerce demand from China switched to other lanes.
Looking at trade indicators, IATA pointed out that global manufacturing contracted in May, with the Purchasing Managers Index falling to 49.1, below the 50 mark that signals growth
New export orders also remained in negative territory at 48, reflecting pressure from recent US trade policy changes, IATA said.
In terms of regional performance, Asia Pacific airlines registered 8.3% year-on-year demand growth for air cargo in May, the strongest growth of all regions, and capacity increased by 5.7%.
North American carriers noted a -5.8% year-on-year decrease in growth for air cargo in May, the slowest growth of all regions, while capacity decreased by -3.2% year-on-year.
European carriers saw 1.6% year-on-year demand growth for May and capacity increased 1.5%.
Middle Eastern carriers reported a 3.6% increase in demand for the month, while capacity was up 4.2%.
Latin American carriers registered a 3.1% year-on-year increase in May and capacity increased 3.5%.
Finally, African airlines saw a 2.1% decrease and capacity increased by 2.7%.
