Airfreight rates continue to rise in September
Airfreight
rates
finally
showed
signs
of
improvement
in
September
and
further
increases
have
been
recorded
in
the
first
week
of
October.
The
latest
figures
from
the
Baltic
Exchange
Airfreight
Index
(BAI)
show
that
average
rates
–
spot
and
contract
–
paid
by
forwarders
from
Hong
Kong
to
Europe
and
North
America
increased
last
month
for
the
second
month
in
a
row.
From
Hong
Kong
to
North
America
rates
in
September
increased
to
$4.90
per
kg
from
$4.85
per
kg
a
month
earlier,
with
improvements
picking
up
as
the
month
progressed.
From
Hong
Kong
to
Europe,
prices
improved
to
$3.72
per
kg
from
$3.65
per
kg
in
August.Rate
increases
at
this
time
of
year
aren’t
too
much
of
a
surprise
as
the
industry
enters
the
busier
peak
season.
Perhaps
more
notably,
the
gap
on
last
year’s
performance
continued
to
narrow
last
month.
In
August
rates
from
Hong
Kong
to
North
America
were
down
41.8%
year-
on-
year
but
this
narrowed
to
38.3%
in
September
–
the
first
time
since
March
that
the
difference
has
been
below
40%.
To
Europe,
the
difference
narrowed
to
38.9%
in
September
from
42.4%
in
August,
which
is
the
first
time
since
April
the
gap
has
been
below
40%.
In
recent
weeks,
market
reports
have
suggested
a rise
in
demand
and
a
tightening
of
capacity.
E-commerce
demand
out
of
Hong
Kong
had
been
particularly
strong,
the
reports
said.
Meanwhile,
it
appears
rates
are
continuing
to
increase
in
October.
TAC
Index,
which
provides
the
data
for
the
BAI,
said
the
overall
Baltic
Air
Freight
Index
rose
a
further
4.1%
in
the
week
to
October
2,
taking
the
change
over
the
last
four
weeks
up
to
11%
and
cutting
the
12-month
drop
to
34.1%.
TAC
said
there
was
an
impression
of
a
genuine
peak
season
bounce.
Source:
aircargonews
