News / Europe still reaping the benefits as ecommerce traffic to US falls again

ID 384710041 © Roman Samborskyi

Air freight tonnage from China and India to the US dropped again in week 41, with the European market still reaping the benefits of the trade flow shift.  

According to the latest weekly figures from WorldACD Market Data, tonnage from Asia Pacific origins was down 9% week on week, with volumes from China and Hong Kong, particularly, dropping 13% and 6%, respectively. 

The data company attributed this drop to this year’s extended Golden Week holiday from 1 to 8 October, and noted that, despite it being a day longer this year, overall worldwide tonnage for weeks 40 and 41 combined were up 4% from last year. 

One of the hardest hit lanes was again Asia Pacific to US, down 11% on the previous week, compared with a 9% drop to Europe.  

Chargeable weight from China to the US also dropped, by 11%, in week 41, taking it 6% lower than last year, and tonnages from Hong Kong to the US were 19% lower, due to “reduced ecommerce volumes” since the removal of de minimis exemptions. 

As a result, WorldACD revealed, cargo spot rates from China to the US fell 7% from the previous week to $4.07 per kg, which is 20% below their level in week 41 last year. ,

Dave Dorner, CEO of Celebi Aviation, told The Loadstar on the sidelines of last week’s Aviation Connect event in Copenhagen, there was “upward pressure or positive movement” of airfreight into Europe, as “China is looking for new customers”.  

“The trade flows are strong from Asia to Europe. We’re seeing a lot of growth in ecommerce,” he said. 

WorldACD also noted that higher US tariffs on goods from India to the US meant that Indian exports to the US dropped for the second week in a row, falling 4% from the previous week, while volumes from India to Europe increased 6%. 

Analysis from Trade and Transport Group, based on Chinese customs data, further revealed that exports to Europe were up almost 60% year on year in September, and to the US were down 34%. 

Mr Dorner added that while there was “obviously ecommerce going into all of Europe”, he added that Celebi had recognised some key gateways. 

“Belgium is one, and Hungary is another, and obviously our Hungarian business is, frankly, exploding… it’s way above our expectations. It’s grown very rapidly over the last two years,” he said.  

“All the players, including us, are participating in that growth – frankly, it’s hard to keep up.” 

According to Mr Dorner, the pace of growth is such that “the biggest challenge” will be to keep up in terms of infrastructure and equipment.  

“Even if you see quite sophisticated airport infrastructure and ecosystem, it might’ve been built at a time where that level of electrical demand wasn’t envisioned. And therefore, it’s not easy to dig up airports and put in new substations and new cabling everywhere. That’s a challenge,” he said.