There's more to the future of airfreight rates than Red Sea disruption

© Surasak Petchang

There’s been fevered speculation that trouble in the Red Sea could spark a surge in airfreight rates, and there was indeed a rise in late January – though nothing huge yet.

Going forward, it looks like the main drivers of volatility over next 12 months will be factors like the US elections; global freight issues related to both the Red Sea and Panama Canal; the Middle East and Black Sea conflicts; plus likely US and EU interest rate adjustments.

January, however, was ...