After declining for several weeks, global air cargo tonnages increased slightly in the second full week of July, mainly driven by stabilizing volumes ex-Asia Pacific, whereas rates continued their long-term decline, according to the latest analysis by WorldACD.

The air cargo market data provider said figures for week 28 (July 10-16) showed a +2% increase in tonnages compared with the previous week, while average worldwide air cargo prices fell slightly (-1%) week-on-week (WoW).

The numbers are based on the more than 400,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD's data.

WorldACD noted that comparing weeks 27 and 28 with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), overall tonnages decreased by -3% versus their combined total in weeks 25 and 26, with capacity stable and average worldwide rates down by -1%.

 [Source: WorldACD]

At a regional level, it said that "strong drops" in tonnages were recorded ex-North America to Europe (-16%) and Asia Pacific (-10%), and also ex-Middle East & South Asia to Asia Pacific (-16%) and Europe (-13%).

Meanwhile, modest increases were recorded ex-Asia Pacific to North America (+3%) and intra-Asia Pacific (+2%).

It added that traffic between Asia Pacific and Europe dropped -4% in the head-haul westbound direction and -5% eastbound.

On the pricing side, the air cargo market data provider said average rates show a small decrease on a regional level for most lanes, on a 2Wo2W basis, with the strongest drop recorded on the flows ex-Asia Pacific to Middle East & South Asia (-4%) and to Europe (-4%), and ex-North America to Europe (-4%) and to Central & South America (-4%).

It said that the only positive development in the average rate was recorded ex-Middle East & South Asia to Asia Pacific (+3%).

Tonnages and rates down year-on-year

Comparing the overall global market with this time last year, chargeable weight in weeks 27 and 28 was down -3% compared with the equivalent period last year (YoY).

WorldACD said this is driven by decreases in tonnages ex-North America (-12%), ex-Europe (-8%) and ex-Central & South America (-6%), while, notably, tonnages ex-Asia Pacific went up +3% compared to last year. 

It added that overall capacity has increased by +8% compared with last year, with capacity ex-Asia Pacific up by a noteworthy +33%.

Another notable YoY percentage increase was observed in capacity ex-Middle East & South Asia (+9%), while a strong reduction was shown from Central & South America (-15%).

"Worldwide average rates are currently -39% below their levels this time last year, at an average of US$2.29 per kilo in week 28, although they remain significantly above pre-Covid levels (+29% compared to July 2019)," WorldACD added.