Air cargo continues to grow in July, but China weakens

The latest demand statistics from WorldACD show that air cargo volumes continued on an upward trajectory in July, but also a weakening of growth originating from China.
The analyst’s monthly figures show that air cargo volumes increased by 11.8% year on year in July, thanks to a 14.2% improvement from origin Europe, while the Middle East/South Asia was up 13.5% and Asia Pacific improved by 13%.
For destinations, the Middle East/South Asia and Asia Pacific registered the largest improvements.
In terms of cargo types, general cargo continued to increase more quickly (+12.6%) than the other product categories (+9%), with the exception of pharmaceuticals (+17.6%).
The analysts said yields also improved during the month, up 7.8%.
"The Asia Pacific region contributed heavily to this impressive figure by scoring an even more impressive 13.2% dollar-yield increase for business originating in the area.
"Month-over-month, however, worldwide yields did not increase: measured in dollars they remained stable, in euros they lost 2.3%."
The analyst also noticed that for the first time this year, China "sputtered" as double-digit percentage growth of 19% for the first six months dropped to 8%.
"[China] grew faster than the world market every month, but not in July. Air cargo needed the compensation of high growth from places like Hong Kong, Germany, India, the UK, Singapore and the Netherlands, to achieve its July-growth of 11.8% year on year. By the way, incoming traffic in China continues to boom (+21% year on year)."
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