News / CSA exports to North America proving surprisingly strong

Photo: © Konstantin Iliev | Dreamstime.com

Despite predictions of a strong season, Chile’s cherry exports to China – far and away their largest market – got off to a slow start, hampered by worsening weather just before harvesting and softer-than-anticipated demand.

Business subsequently picked up, but hopes for a record seasonal tally were dashed.

Industry sources had predicted output from the world’s leading cherry producer to reach 131 million boxes, equivalent to 655,000 tonnes. this season, up from 625,000 tonnes in the 2024/25 window.

Exports to the US, however, proved surprisingly strong. According to the Cherries Committee of Fruits From Chile, these were 18,282 tonnes by 22 December, a whopping 63% over the same period a year earlier.

This surge, coupled with the US administration’s suspension of tariffs on major Brazilian commodities, boosted overall airfreight volumes from Central and South America (CSA) to North America in December. According to World ACD, chargeable airfreight weight climbed 6% in the 1-28 December period, while overall export airfreight tonnage rose 6.3%.

Waterborne exports from CSA to North America had lost momentum in the autumn, according to data from CTS, down 6.9% year on year in October, the third consecutive month of declines around 7% after increases through most of the first seven months. Southbound volumes jumped 7.68% in October after a flat September.

Data from Sea-Intelligence show ocean carrier performance serving North America from CSA gateways improved in November from October, with schedule reliability up 1.9 percentage points, to a reading of 81.6%. This marked an improvement of 42.1% year on year.

Delays shrank, to an average of 3.27 days, which was 5.04 days lower than a year earlier. Over a six-month period, all but one of the container carriers serving the tradelane improved their performance.

Despite the boost in traffic, airfreight pricing out of CSA retreated 6.1% overall last month, with rates to North America falling 7.7% and pricing to Asia Pacific slumping 18.6%, according to WorldACD.

In the two weeks to 14 December, airfreight capacity out of CSA climbed 2% over the previous fortnight, a year-on-year increase of 12%, says WorldACD data. Traffic to North America grew 6%, but pricing contracted 3%.

The seasonal increase in bellyhold capacity was one factor driving this trend, but freighter lift also grew. LATAM Airlines boosted its capacity, led by a 12% rise in lift out of Brazil.

Inbound e-commerce flows were a major driver of this expansion, reflected in triple-digit increases in volumes of several commodities which resulted in record tonnage for the airline on Black Friday in Brazil. This followed a 6.3% year-on-year gain in LATAMs cargo revenues for the third quarter.

The suspension of US de minimis exemption for e-commerce imports in the summer had depleted freighter lift from Asia to CSA via the US, but in recent months some new maindeck capacity has entered the market.

In early December, Geodis signed an agreement with Atlas Air to extend a transpacific B747 freighter service beyond the US to markets in Colombia, Brazil, Panama, Chile, and Costa Rica. This followed a similar move by DSV, which continued a dedicated transpacific freighter between Shanghai and Rockford to select destinations in CSA.

Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport, the region’s largest gateway, registered a 5% increase in flights for the season that ended in late March, the majority on domestic sectors, but the airport also saw more flights to Miami and New York as well as Madrid, Lisbon and London, plus the return of a service to Munich.

Forwarders are watching these developments with mixed feelings, mindful of repeated congestion at Guarulhos’ cargo facilities. According to one cargo agent, another disruption of throughput is on the cards.

Meanwhile, forwarders routing cargo through Lima’s Jorge Chavez Airport fear a potential lack of connectivity. In December, the Peruvian government introduced a transit fee for passengers who connect to other flights. Noting that about 40% are in transit, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates that this could reduce their number by 3% to 11%, which would translate into 21.7m fewer international passengers by 2041. As a result, Lima would lose out to other regional gateways like Bogota and Panama, which already offer more international connections.

This could also impact Peru’s perishables exporters, which have gone from strength to strength in recent years. Last year, the country consolidated its position as the world’s leading exporter of blueberries. Between May and September, it shipped out more than 135,000 tons, a 92.9% increase over the same period in 2024. Peruvian blueberries have been exported to 38 international markets, with the US, the Netherlands, and China accounting for 83%.