Demand for air freight 'perking up', but this puts pressure on capacity
“The normality of the market is not that normal,” says Transport Intelligence (Ti) in its ...
GM: GAUGING RISKGXO: NEW BOT PARTNERWMT: CAPEX IN CHECKWMT: CFO ON AUTOMATION WMT: SPOTLIGHT ON AUTOMATIONHD: PRESSURE BUILDSFWRD: REVISED EBITDA MAERSK: TESTING ONE-MONTH HIGHFDX: UP UP AND AWAYRXO: COYOTE DEAL TAILWINDDSV: NEW REFI DEALR: WEAKENING AMZN: LIFESTYLE BATTLEKNIN: EXPANDED NETWORK OF CROSS-DECK FACILITIES
GM: GAUGING RISKGXO: NEW BOT PARTNERWMT: CAPEX IN CHECKWMT: CFO ON AUTOMATION WMT: SPOTLIGHT ON AUTOMATIONHD: PRESSURE BUILDSFWRD: REVISED EBITDA MAERSK: TESTING ONE-MONTH HIGHFDX: UP UP AND AWAYRXO: COYOTE DEAL TAILWINDDSV: NEW REFI DEALR: WEAKENING AMZN: LIFESTYLE BATTLEKNIN: EXPANDED NETWORK OF CROSS-DECK FACILITIES
South Africa’s airfreight market has seen an impressive bounce. Its forwarding association, Saaff, said: “International air cargo to and from South Africa had a bumper week.”
Last week, international airfreight to and from the country rose 16%; imports were up 12% week on week and exports jumped a mighty 23%, despite globally, tonnages falling 5%.
And rates “continued to rise”, added Saaff.
Freightos’ FAX, for shipments of 100-300kg, showed rates from Africa to Europe up 19% in the first two weeks of October, although from Europe to Africa they remained broadly flat. From Africa to North America, however, rates soared 147%, while from North America to Africa, rates rose 19%.
“Perhaps it is not any one reason in isolation; instead, we have reason to believe that it is a combination of three things,” Jacob van Rensburg, head of research and development for Saaff, told The Loadstar.
“There are improved international sentiments concerning air cargo,” he said, pointing to the latest IATA Cargo research, and adding: “There is also increased connectivity with passengers, opening some further bellyhold space.”
But he also pointed to South Africa’s poor port performance.
“There are instances of modal shift, as SA’s ports have continued to struggle with efficiency and reliability – our port volume throughput is desperately low,” he noted.
Indeed, South Africa’s port throughput fell 8% week on week. Business Unity South Africa noted: “This week’s operational constraints revolved around network challenges, adverse weather conditions, frequent equipment breakdowns and shortages and congestion inside the terminal gates, mainly due to insufficient usable equipment.
“Our port economy continues to operate with something of a cloud above it, as the narrative of low volumes and recurring problems (such as frequent equipment breakdowns and shortages) is preventing anything remotely resembling peak performance.”
The BUSA report noted that, year on year, the daily average volume of air cargo handled in Johannesburg was up 107%.
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