Worldwide air cargo volume in July 2020 was higher than for June 2020 but price per kilogram fell despite the lack of capacity, with Asia as the worst regional performer, according to WorldACD.
July 2020 showed an 8.2% growth in volume over the preceding month, data from the air cargo data provider indicated. This compares to the July 2019 volume being just 5.5% higher than in June 2019. Year-over-year, however, the July 2020 volume was down by 18.5%.
The price of air cargo per kilogram was 62% higher in July year-on-year, but fell 9% on a month-on-month basis, dropping from US$3.12 in June 2020 to $2.83 in July. For the first time since, the combined airlines’ air cargo revenues slightly dropped.
The lack of capacity in the market shows that “normality” still seems a long way off, said the report. Capacity drop and the much smaller drop in cargo transported only showed a gap of 1 percentage point in July month-on-month, but had a gap of over 20 percentage points year-on-year. The month-on-month change of the worldwide load factor was +1%, but with clear differences between freighters (+3%) and passenger aircraft (-8%).
In terms of region, the origins Europe and MESA (Middle East & South Asia) added the most kilograms to their June figures, up 13% and 14%, respectively, in July, with Europe managing to keep its prices reasonably stable (-2.5% month-on-month).
Asia-Pacific was the least performer month-on-month: a 6% volume growth was accompanied by a 14.4% drop in prices per kilogram.
Air cargo business from China attracted very high prices, but these prices were often based on limited numbers of shipments (sometimes even ‘one-offs’), and therefore needed to be put in perspective, said WorldACD.
It noted the following changes in price per kilogram in Asia in July since May 2020:
- Prices from Asia Pacific as a whole fell by 41%, from $5.71 to $3.38
- Prices from China dropped by 53%, from $7.80 to $3.63
- Prices from Northeast Asia lost 32%, falling from $4.66 to $3.19
- Prices from South Asia fell by only 13%
In the Americas and Africa, monthly deviations were much more measured than in other parts of the world.
Meantime, revenues from air cargo rose month-on-month by 10% in July for business originating in Europe, by 9% from Africa, by 6% from MESA, and by 3% from Central & South America. They fell by 1% from North America and by 9% from Asia Pacific.
Image by MichaelGaida from Pixabay
