Expedited : Spotlight on Air Cargo
Special Report
The express operator expects global e-commerce to increase 8.8 % in 2024 , with a strong peak season through the fourth quarter .
“ With ongoing volatility in global freight markets and a continued strong flow of e-commerce volumes , we are expecting a healthy surge in demand for express services in the fourth quarter ,” DHL Express CEO John Pearson said in a statement .
British cargo airline One Air in September added a third Boeing 747 freighter to its fleet to meet strong demand for traditional cargo from forwarders on Asia- Europe . It operates ad hoc charter flights on several routes across Europe , the Middle East and Asia , as well as seven flights a week from Hong Kong to Europe .
The injection of capacity into Asia , mostly China , is making a longstanding problem even worse . While aircraft are full flying out of China to the US and Europe , the return flights are virtually empty , which places significant pricing pressure on the carriers .
Air cargo consulting firm Rotate estimated the contribution of Boeing 777 freighter flights on several trade lanes and found the growing imbalance increased the profitability gap between the head-haul and back-haul flights .
On the trans-Pacific , based on unit costs and revenue through the four weeks of August , cargo on China – US flights was carried at a profit of $ 3.07 per kilogram , while the return flight operated at a loss of $ 1.48 per kg .
The Asia-Europe route showed a profitability of $ 2.10 per kg and a return loss of $ 1.12 per kg , while the trans-Atlantic trade lane was unprofitable in both directions , Rotate found .
“ The freighters are all flying full out of Asia , and the rest of the world is not performing as well ,” Owen said . “ It is not something new , but because of the e-commerce growth over the last couple of years there is a lot more capacity flying out than before and the return flights have gotten more challenging .”
Rodriguez said the trade imbalance was something forwarders have become accustomed to over the years but it did impact pricing negotiations with carriers as charter agreements were mostly settled on a round-trip basis .
“ The top four e-commerce players in China need around 150 freighters per day to move the cargo out .”
“ This is why pricing on freight on the trans-Pacific westbound US-to-China route amounts to only a fraction — approximately one quarter — of the cost for freight on the eastbound China to US route ,” he told the Journal of Commerce . “ Essentially , those [ forwarders with ] charter agreements are simply looking for any possible contribution to help offset the overall cost .”
email : greg . knowler @ spglobal . com
Asia – Europe and Middle East load factors reached 86 % in September , which is effectively full . Shutterstock . com www . joc . com October 7 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 13