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TAC INDEX: AIR CARGO PEAK SEASON FOR 2023 APPEARS TO BE PEAKING
December 18, 2023

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. 

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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.

 

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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%.

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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.