In-depth analysis of global air freight demand and pricing figures in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 reveals some big variations behind the overall declines, with some markets, lanes and product types still recording gains and others deviating significantly from the worldwide average, according to WorldACD Market Data.
As the air cargo data specialist reported earlier this month, worldwide air cargo chargeable weight flown in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 ended up -11% below that of the equivalent period last year (Q1 2022). But a deep-dive into WorldACD’s data reveals that behind those figures there is a tremendous amount of variation globally, depending on factors such as origin point or region, product type, shipment weight, and whether cargo was flown via freighter or passenger belly capacity.
Breaking down those origin figures further reveals that the -16% drop from Asia Pacific includes a -24% decline in intra-Asia traffic and a -21% fall in traffic to North America, and more-modest declines to Europe (-10%) and Africa (-9%), YoY, despite a capacity rise of +7% ex-Asia Pacific. But that total -16% figure also hides a +30% rise in traffic ex-Asia Pacific to C&S America and a +9% rise to MESA.
Meanwhile, the -18% drop from North America comes despite a capacity rise of +9% and includes a -29% decline to Asia Pacific markets, compared with Q1 2022.
Examining the results on a product or verticals level, there is also considerable variation. Continuing a long-term trend towards a growing importance of special products, General Cargo experienced the biggest decline, falling -16%, YoY, whereas the various special products categories saw either a much more modest decline or growth in some verticals.
Zooming in on the relatively stable Perishables markets, where total worldwide overall volumes were up by +2%, we can see some significantly different performances among the top origin countries and between different Perishables categories.
Unsurprisingly, given the recent pandemic and market dynamics, there was also a strong difference between the relative performance of those operating all-cargo aircraft versus passenger belly capacity, consistent with the progressive return of passenger aircraft to the market as part of post-Covid recovery.
The Pharma/Temp category as a whole – which accounts for around 4.1% of total worldwide flown air cargo and includes Pharma and other temperature-controlled non-perishables products – saw a worldwide rise in Q1 of almost +1% (+0.7%), YoY, partly thanks to a significant rise (+4.5%) in shipments requiring Active temperature control or cooling. In contrast, shipment volumes using Passive temperature control grew just +0.3% during this period, on a global basis.
Within this group, shipments using Active cooling are growing by more than 10%, YoY, from the following origins: France (+113%), Belgium (+65%), Italy (+17%), Germany (+14%), Netherlands (+14%). Among the top 10, there were declines ex-USA (-9%), Austria (-8%) and ex-India (-5%).
In terms of destination markets, WorldACD has identified the top 10 destinations for Active cooling in Q1 2023 as: USA, China, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Belgium, South Korea, with the four largest destinations (USA, China, Brazil, Japan) accounting for 54% of worldwide volume in Active cooling.
