Air cargo spot rates from Asia Pacific continue to soar, despite a drop in demand from China to the USA in the last two full weeks, according to the latest weekly figures and analysis from WorldACD Market Data.

Average global air cargo rates rose by a further +2% in the third full week of July to US$2.56 a kilo, thanks to increases from Asia Pacific and Middle East & South Asia (MESA) origins, despite total worldwide tonnages declining for the third consecutive week. That average worldwide of $2.56 a kilo is +14% above the equivalent week last year and remains significantly higher than the equivalent period prior to Covid (+47% compared to July 2019).

Based on a full-market average of spot rates and contract rates, average prices from Asia Pacific origins rose by a further +2% in week 29 (15 to 21 July) to US$3.34 per kilo, up by +25% compared with the equivalent week last year. Meanwhile, average rates from MESA origins went up by +1% to $2.78 per kilo and stand +56% higher than this time last year, as disruptions continue to container shipping in that region. Africa origins also saw a +2% increase, to $1.93 per kilo, around +6% up on last year, based on the more than 450,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data.

These pricing increases come despite falling demand from all of the main regions in week 29, including a -7% week-on-week (WoW) decrease from MESA and from Africa, and a -4% drop from Central & South America and from Europe compared with the previous week. Asia Pacific (-2%) and North America (-2%) were more stable, with tonnages from Asia Pacific around +13% higher, year on year (YoY), while from MESA they are up by +10%, YoY.