Steady TAC index hides turbulence beneath

Global airfreight rates are little changed according to the TAC Index price reporting agency, but there is movement on individual lanes.

The overall Baltic Air Freight Index (BAI00) was down by just -0.1% in the week to August 19 – maintaining the solid pattern of recent weeks. The year-on-year gain now stands at +10.8%.

TAC quoted sources as saying that the market is generally holding steady, in the face of normal summer season softness due to extra passenger bellyhold capacity.

The unchanged overall picture did hide considerable movement up and down on individual lanes, however. The index of outbound routes from Hong Kong (BAI30) gained a further +0.6% week on week, taking its year-on-year gain to +22.9%.

But outbound rates from Shanghai slipped 1.2% WoW, though leaving its rise YoY at a robust 28.1%. There were also gains on rates from Seoul to Europe, while those out of India fell back a little after the huge rises earlier this year. Rates from Vietnam fell to Europe but rose again to the US.

Rates out of Europe eased back a little after recent gains as capacity was shifted to busier lanes out of Asia. The index of outbound routes from Frankfurt (BAI20) fell by 2.4% WoW, with rates to North America as well as to China also both slipping a little, leaving the YoY decline at -18.4%. Outbound London rates (BAI40) eased by -0.8% WoW, leaving the YoY fall at -18.8%.

From the Americas, outbound routes from Chicago (BAI50) gained a further +2.7% WoW, led again by higher rates to South East Asia, reducing the YoY decline to -14.7%. Overall rates from the US rose to Europe but fell to China and to South America, particularly out of Miami following strong recent gains.

Air cargo rate increases on major Asia trades taper off in July