Slowing air freight exports from China fail to dampen market

China pulled back from its position as the ‘world’s air cargo engine’ in July, according to the latest data from WorldACD.

While the country has seen air freight exports grow in double-digit figures every month this year, in July growth shrank from the H1 average of 19% to just 8%. Import growth, however, remained high at 21% year on year.

As WorldACD points out, the slowdown has not affected the air cargo market overall, which continues to be buoyant in comparison with recent years. High growth from Hong Kong, India, the UK, Singapore and the Netherlands kept the industry healthy. And with several product launches, including a new iPhone expected in coming weeks, it is likely that China could bounce back.

Worldwide overall, year-on-year volume growth was 11.8%, led by Europe (up 14.2%), Middle East and South Asia (up 13.5%) and Asia Pacific (up 13%). While pharmaceuticals was the fastest-growing sector, up 17.6%, general cargo outpaced other product categories at 12.6%.

Most happily, yields saw a considerable year-on-year rise, up 7.8% in US dollars, with Asia Pacific enjoying the best growth at 13.2%. However, July was not the strongest period – month-on-month yields remained flat when measured in dollars, and fell 2.3% in euros.

You can see WorldACD’s data here.