Air‑cargo rates remain firm

Global air-cargo rates kept climbing in early April even as Easter slowed shipments and some Gulf airline bellyhold space returned to the market. (worldacd.com) WorldACD said worldwide chargeable weight fell 4% week on week in week 14, covering March 30 to April 5, with tonnage down 3% from Asia Pacific and 9% from the Americas. Average global airfreight rates still rose 4% to $3.10 per kilogram. (worldacd.com) A week later, the market tightened again. WorldACD said average worldwide spot rates rose another 3% in week 15, covering April 6 to 12, to $3.76 per kilo, up 37% from a year earlier. (worldacd.com) In air cargo, “bellyhold” means freight loaded under passenger jets, and that space usually helps cool prices when airlines add seats and routes. WorldACD said the return of some Gulf capacity in late March had absorbed current demand, but rates were still rising. (worldacd.com) The backdrop is the disruption that hit Middle East transit lanes after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. WorldACD said spot rates in week 15 were more than 40% above their level at the end of February, when that shock hit the market. (worldacd.com) The first jump came in week 10, when WorldACD said reduced Middle Eastern transit capacity pushed the average global rate up 6% week on week to $2.40 per kilo. On the MESA-Europe lane, rates jumped 57% in a single week. (aircargoweek.com) By week 11, average global full-market rates had climbed another 10% to $2.67 per kilo even as Gulf capacity started to recover. Zawya, citing WorldACD data, said carriers, forwarders and shippers were still adjusting to rerouted traffic and tighter lift. (zawya.com) That leaves shippers of urgent industrial parts, pharmaceuticals and perishables paying elevated prices for speed. CEP-Research said express and parcel operators were still facing high rates because demand signals, available airlift and fuel supplies remained unstable. (cep-research.com) The near-term pattern is clear: volumes can dip for a holiday week, but rates do not fall quickly when networks are still being rebuilt. Two straight weekly increases in April suggest airlines and forwarders are still pricing around disrupted routings rather than normal seasonal softness. (worldacd.com)