WorldACD has reported that cargoes remained under pressure in August, reporting lower numbers in general with most regions contributing to the decline.
The air cargo data provider said general cargo dropped 10.3% despite a minute increase of 0.7% in special cargo. Total chargeable weight also decreased by 7.1% year-on-year and overall load factor declined 4 percentage points.
The only bright spot in August were volumes of high tech and other vulnerable goods (up 4.4%), pharmaceuticals and temperature-controlled goods (up 5.2%) and perishables (up 1.3%).
"August brought the industry back to earth: a year-on-year weight loss of 7.1% worldwide was accompanied by a yield decrease (in USD) of 9.4%. The resulting worldwide revenue drop (measured in USD) of almost 16% is not exactly the performance airlines were waiting for," WorldACD said in a statement.
Middle East and South Asia led the decline
"The various regions of the world contributed in roughly the same measure to the decline; exceptions were Africa and – at the other end of the spectrum – the Middle East and South Asia," it added.
WorldACD said year to date – 8 months from the January through August 2019 –worldwide air cargo volumes were down by almost 5% and yields (in USD) by 7.1% for general cargo, and by 3.8% for special cargo categories.
In terms of overall revenues, the market intelligence firm said the origins Europe and Asia Pacific have been hardest hit in the year so far.
"Asia Pacific is the main regional victim when looking at destinations, particularly in the markets within the area and on the flow US to China and Hong Kong," WorldACD said.
In air cargo exports to the US, the agency noted that China lost 18% of its revenues (in USD), while the other origins in Asia Pacific combined lost 16%.
Vietnam unaffected
Among the major Asia Pacific countries, Japan and Hong Kong and South Korea each lost around 25%, but Vietnam and Taiwan gained 4% and 15% respectively.
On the opposite direction, the report said from the USA to Asia Pacific, it found an 18.5% decline to China, Hong Kong (down 20%), South Korea (down 24%), Japan (down 7%), Taiwan (down 10.5%) although Vietnam was up 9.5%.
"The countries in North-East Asia do not make the impression that they benefit from the trade war. And the airlines? When looking strictly at the USD-revenues made from air cargo flows between China and the US, North American carriers suffered more than Asian carriers," it added.