The air cargo peak season for 2023 appears to be peaking, according to the latest data from the TAC Index.

The price reporting agency (PRA) for air freight said following a series of rises in recent weeks, the overall Baltic Air Freight Index (BAI00) was very slightly lower by -0.1% in the week to December 18, leaving it lower by -14.4% over the last 12 months. 

Air freight prices outbound of Hong Kong (BAI30) — still the biggest airport in the world by cargo volume — kept going up last week, rising by a further +1.4% week-on-week (WoW) to put that index ahead by +8.9% year-on-year (YoY), led by a continuing rise in rates to North America.

However, it noted that outbound Shanghai (BAI80) gave back some ground after the recent surge, falling -3.1% WoW, with rates to the US dropping to leave that index only narrowly ahead YoY by +0.3%. 

Out of Europe, market conditions continued to be mixed.

TAC Index reported that outbound Frankfurt (BAI20) gained a solid +6.4% WoW, showing gains on rates both to China and to the US, though still lower by -48.3% YoY. But outbound London (BAI40) enjoyed no such bounce, with rates falling on all major lanes to show a further WoW fall of -5.1% and a huge YoY drop of -57.3%.

Meanwhile, the latest significant new addition to the data this week was air cargo rates from Europe to Japan, which showed a gain of +3.1% WoW. 

"Rates out of the US were generally firmer, with outbound Chicago (BAI50) up +3.0% WoW to cut the YoY drop to -30.6%," it said.

It added that rates from the US to South America rose strongly WoW, particularly from Miami.