Global tonnages increased in the third full week of August, following a similar pattern as last year, mainly driven by Europe rebounding from the holiday season, while rates remained stable, according to the latest figures from WorldACD Market Data.

Figures for week 34 (21 to 27 August) show a +4% jump in tonnages compared with the previous week, while average worldwide air cargo prices remained stable, week-on-week (WoW), based on the more than 400,000 weekly transactions covered by WorldACD’s data.

Comparing weeks 33 and 34 with the preceding two weeks (2Wo2W), overall tonnages dropped by -4% versus their combined total in weeks 31 and 32, while worldwide rates and capacity remained flat.

At a regional level, decreases in tonnages (2Wo2W) were down most strongly on flows ex-Europe (-10%) during the vacation period, respectively to Asia Pacific (-14%), Central & South America (-14%), North America (-8%), Middle East & South Asia (-8%) and Africa (-5%). Furthermore, other notable downward trends were observed on flows ex-Middle East & South Asia to Asia Pacific (-15%), ex-Asia Pacific to Europe (-4%) and ex-North America to Central & South America (-4%). There was only one notable increase to report, on flows ex-Asia Pacific to Middle-East & South Asia (+8%).

On the pricing side, average global rates remained flat (2Wo2W), along with prices from the main origin regions, except for Africa – which showed an increase of +3%. A noteworthy decrease in pricing was recorded on lanes ex-Europe to Africa (-5%), while on lanes ex-Central & South America to Europe a significantly positive trend was observed (+6%).

Year-on-Year perspective

Comparing the overall global market with this time last year, chargeable weight in weeks 33 and 34 was down -5% compared with the equivalent period last year (YoY), with double digit percentage decreases in tonnages ex-North America (-17%) and ex-Europe (-12%). While origin regions Africa (-5%) and Central & South America (-3%) are down as well, (mild) increases were shown ex-Asia Pacific (+2%) and ex-Middle East & South Asia (+3%).

Overall capacity has increased by +9% compared with last year, with capacity ex-Asia Pacific up by a noteworthy +25%. Other significant YoY capacity increases can be observed ex-Middle East & South Asia (+12%), ex-Europe (+7%), while a significant decrease was recorded ex-Central & South America (-7%).

Worldwide average rates are currently -36% below their levels this time last year, at an average of US$2.27 per kilo in week 34, although they remain significantly above pre-Covid levels (+33% compared to August 2019).