News / Air cargo spot rates hit 2024 peak, while Vietnam becomes a hotspot

Aircraft fly into Ho Chi Minh © Huy Thoai |

Air cargo spot rates have risen to their highest level this year, despite the recent Golden Week holiday in China.

Tonnages fell by 7% week on week out of Asia Pacific, in the week to 6 October, WorldACD said. But worldwide spot rates went up +1% in the week to $2.84 per kg – their highest level this year.

Asia Pacific rates rose 1%, while Africa was up 2% and Central and South America up 5%. WorldACD noted that contract rates out of Asia Pacific rose 2%.

One current hotspot is Vietnam – and it has not gone unnoticed by carriers.

A spokesperson for Qatar Airways Cargo told The Loadstar: “We certainly have seen a big demand for ecommerce from Asia and recently implemented increased capacity into markets including India, China and Vietnam… We see big potential in China, India and Vietnam due to the rising ecommerce boom.”

Lufthansa Cargo also cited Vietnam in its winter schedule, with a new flight connecting Frankfurt, Ho Chi Minh and Los Angeles with a 777F on a weekly rotation.

“This marks our first direct connection from the Asian market to our US network, and we couldn’t be more thrilled about the opportunities it brings for global trade and logistics,” added the carrier.

Vietnam is certainly seeing a lot of attention. Capacity out of Ho Chi Minh to North America last week saw 359% growth, year on year, according to Rotate’s capacity database, and last month the tradelane saw 86% growth on the year. However, year-to-date, capacity was down 22.1% over 2023.

To Europe, capacity out of Ho Chi Minh was up 30% last week over 2023, and up 11% in the year to date.

Rates are also on the rise, despite the injection of capacity. To the US, rates out of Vietnam in the week ending 7 October were up 65.4% year on year, to $6.38, according to TAC Index, and up 3.2% week on week.

To Europe, rates went up to $4.44, and week on week were up 3.3%, while from a year earlier, they were up 57.5%.

Qatar Airways Cargo’s spokesperson said: “Profitable and high demand routes will always, of course, be core to any business.

“We continue to see a positive trend in bookings for the rest of the year.”

But they added: “Due to commercial sensitivities, we cannot give specific numbers.”