There had been much speculation in air cargo about whether the strong demand growth reported over the first two months of the year would continue past the Lunar New Year holiday but it appears the buoyant market conditions are so far continuing, although at a slightly lower level.
Figures released last week by data provider WorldACD appear to show that demand is continuing to improve in March, albeit at a lower level as the urgency to move cargo ahead of the Lunar holiday has eased.
The data provider’s figures for the two weeks ending March 10 (week 10) show that demand was up by 4% year on year on a global basis.
“Overall global demand has broadly stabilised following a strong return of Asia Pacific volumes since the Lunar New Year dip in early February,” said WorldACD in its latest market analysis.
Many had wondered whether the double-digit demand improvements registered over the first two months of the year were the result of the Red Sea shipping crisis combined with the usual pre-Lunar New Year rush.
On a week-by-week basis, WorldACD said that total worldwide tonnages in week 10 were “broadly flat” compared with the previous week, after recovering by 3% in week 9 and by 14% the previous week and following an 11% drop around the LNY holiday week.