Air Cargo

A flood of duty-free shipments from Asia has upped the ante on brokers having broad knowledge of the upstream supply chains used by their importer clients.

Chinese online marketplaces have hit on a rich vein of business-to-customer volumes, with the current boom in international air freight driven by cross-border e-commerce rather than a recovery of traditional manufacturing.

Peak season has come early to air freight markets and with ocean shipping disrupted and e-commerce filling planes out of Asia, the demand is set to extend through the second half and beyond.

Not even the widespread disruption to global aviation from the Microsoft IT outage in mid-July could derail resurgent air freight markets.

More than 70% of air cargo space controlled by Kuehne + Nagel subsidiary Apex has been presold for the third and fourth quarters.

Jens Lund believes the supply and demand balance on the major trade lanes is being restored as front-loaded shipments make their way through the supply chain.

Kuehne + Nagel’s Stefan Paul presented a sunny outlook for the rest of the year, saying he expects strengthening air and ocean yields to turn around declines reported across most of the forwarder’s financial metrics in the first half.

The second half of 2024 is not likely to bring rate relief for shippers forced into the air by geopolitical events and trade tensions between the US and China.

The air freight division of ocean carrier MSC now has a fleet of five branded Boeing 777 freighters that the carrier has deployed across major routes.

The carrier wants a third of its air cargo volume to be handled within an owned and controlled network as part of its integrated logistics strategy.

Shippers that have not yet arranged air freight capacity out of Asia for the fourth quarter could be in for an expensive ride, according to Xeneta.

Regulators in the US and Europe are placing online shopping marketplaces under increasing scrutiny as huge volumes of e-commerce packages, imported mainly from China, fill aircraft on trade lanes out of Asia.

Chinese online platforms were not specifically mentioned in an open letter to the European Commission, but the groups noted that government subsidies made competition with Asia-based e-commerce platforms difficult.

With more than 80% of e-commerce transported as air cargo, there are growing safety and transparency issues given the minimal view provided of what is actually inside the parcels.

The state-owned rail operator believes it can leverage soaring demand for China-Europe rail freight to develop a multimodal service offering underpinned by a strong air cargo network.

The airline industry is pinning its hopes on sustainable aviation fuel providing a long-term path to net zero, but there will not be enough biofuel to go around, European climate campaigners Transport & Environment have found.

Cargo owners battling to find space on ships filled by an unseasonal demand surge are taking all available air freight capacity out of Asia, the Middle East and India, with rate levels rising accordingly.

The forwarder says it has been “conditionally” restored to CBP’s so-called Type 86 program and has filed a complaint against the agency to get reinstated without conditions.

Growth in the use of a low-value shipment rule has attracted critics, who say the de minimis program provides a loophole for e-commerce companies abroad to evade duties.

It is a good time to be in the freight transport business with air cargo and ocean shipping on the trade lanes out of Asia seeing sustained demand and robust rate levels.

Underpinning strong volume growth is booming demand for Chinese e-commerce in the US and modal shift from ocean to air in South Asian countries to mitigate Red Sea disruptions.

Group CFO Melanie Kreis would not comment on the near-term freight rate outlook or the likelihood of a modal shift from ocean to air or sea-air caused by supply chain disruptions, including the ongoing vessel diversions to avoid the Red Sea.

US package shippers are shifting from air to ground and from premium-priced to deferred services, UPS says, boosting its SurePost volumes by 10%.

Demand that began to build at the end of last year spilled into the first quarter and K+N says its forward bookings indicate the positive volume development will continue as the year progresses.

Given the huge volumes involved in ocean freight, even a small percentage shift in transport mode from South Asia shippers is enough to keep air cargo demand and rates buoyant.

With Asia-Europe services already served by 12 weekly flights out of Paris, the addition of an Asia-US network will fill a crucial gap in the airline’s global coverage.

Chinese e-commerce marketplaces are rapidly expanding their global reach as strong demand from online shoppers in the US and Europe drives up air freight volumes and keeps transport capacity tight.

The air freight market is off to a strong start this year with volume out of Asia up 11% in the traditionally slow first quarter while rates rose steadily through March.

The top end of the global 3PL sector is populated by companies that see a down market as a chance to focus on higher-yield customers and those that see a chance to build market share.

The acquisition will add significant volume of air and ocean cargo to the MSC subsidiary and extend its reach into European markets.

The freight hauled by the largest LTL trucking company in the US will become more global under a reorganization of FedEx’s varied domestic and international networks.

Dubai continues to be one of the more popular destinations for European importers with time-sensitive cargo, with the airport able to covert ocean freight to air cargo in 24 hours.

The market upswing that began in November has continued through February, with the forwarder expecting further growth this year, especially in ocean freight.

PayCargo has taken a majority ownership stake in process automation company Rippey AI to better connect invoicing to payment transactions.

There was unilateral opposition to the call made by the European Commission last May as part of its reform of customs procedures, and as expected, the measure never made it through the parliamentary review

ChatGPT and generative AI have captured most of the attention around artificial intelligence in logistics, but the diverse range of processes underpinning global supply chains require multiple types of AI working in concert.

Maersk’s integrator strategy has encompassed more access to air freight capacity, including a new tool for shippers in India to digitally price and book specific flights.

The seasonal rise in air freight demand out of China ahead of the holiday has been strong, but analysts say the Red Sea effect on rising volumes remains unclear.

The Austria-based global logistics provider looks to increase its US presence, adding less-than-containerload services by acquiring a Utah-based forwarder.

A seasonal push to get shipments out of Asia before factories close for the Lunar New Year may be masking a switch to air from disrupted ocean networks.