Stay Ahead of the Curve: How's the Freight Market in August - September 2023?

The demand for e-commerce remains high, continually supporting the volume of air freight from Asia to the US and Europe.

Passenger flights in the Asia Pacific region have resumed 65.3% of their 2019 capacity, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). However, flights between the US and China are still operating at only 6% of pre-pandemic levels.

Apple's introduction of new products in September is expected to surge demand for air freight capacity, especially from China, Vietnam, and India to the United States and Europe.

 The long holiday in China from September 29 to October 6, combined with the quarter-end demand in September, is expected to result in rate increases and capacity shortages for air freight on Intra-Asia, Asia-US, and Asia-Europe routes.

Ocean freight rates for most long-haul lanes have been trending upwards in August. One of the major catalysts behind the rate increases is said to be the capacity cuts deployed by the carriers.

Ocean carriers have been reducing the number of scheduled sailings by around 9%. This is a response to the seasonal uptick in volumes during this period. According to Sea-Intelligence, 21.7% of capacity on the trans-Pacific to USWC was blanked in July, up from 14.7% in June.