ALL air cargo block service agreements from Asia to the US and EU have been sold out as e-commerce takes all, reports New York's Journal of Commerce.
Block space agreements for 2024 were finalised in March with forwarders moving quickly to secure space amid fierce competition from large Chinese e-commerce units such as JD.com, Alibaba, Shein or Temu, said Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco.
'This surge in demand is fueled by the optimistic outlook for the e-commerce sector, which signals a promising trajectory for the air freight market in 2024,' said Kathy Liu, Dimerco's senior director of marketing.
Air freight volume posted an 11 per cent year-on-year increase in March, surprising air cargo analysts. It was the third consecutive month the year-on-year jump came in at 11 per cent.
'While this latest monthly data should be balanced against the lower base recorded in the corresponding month of 2023, when we saw weakened global manufacturing activities, Q1 2024 has still seen a surprisingly busy air freight market,' said Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta.
'The level of demand in the first quarter doesn't indicate a market which is running out of steam so far,' he added, with e-commerce growth 'showing no sign of abating on its most prominent lanes.'
Rates are below the levels seen at the same time last year but have continued to trend upward, especially to US destinations, shrugging off the post-Lunar New Year market slowdown traditionally seen in March.
SeaNews Turkey
Block space agreements for 2024 were finalised in March with forwarders moving quickly to secure space amid fierce competition from large Chinese e-commerce units such as JD.com, Alibaba, Shein or Temu, said Taiwan-based forwarder Dimerco.
'This surge in demand is fueled by the optimistic outlook for the e-commerce sector, which signals a promising trajectory for the air freight market in 2024,' said Kathy Liu, Dimerco's senior director of marketing.
Air freight volume posted an 11 per cent year-on-year increase in March, surprising air cargo analysts. It was the third consecutive month the year-on-year jump came in at 11 per cent.
'While this latest monthly data should be balanced against the lower base recorded in the corresponding month of 2023, when we saw weakened global manufacturing activities, Q1 2024 has still seen a surprisingly busy air freight market,' said Niall van de Wouw, chief airfreight officer at rate benchmarking platform Xeneta.
'The level of demand in the first quarter doesn't indicate a market which is running out of steam so far,' he added, with e-commerce growth 'showing no sign of abating on its most prominent lanes.'
Rates are below the levels seen at the same time last year but have continued to trend upward, especially to US destinations, shrugging off the post-Lunar New Year market slowdown traditionally seen in March.
SeaNews Turkey
