Exceptional demand for semiconductors and AI-related hardware inspired a +7% growth in global air cargo demand in June.
Exceptional demand for semiconductors and AI-related hardware inspired a +7% growth in global air cargo demand in June, but spot rates continue to ease in line with expectations after a calming of the Middle East conflict, restoration of capacity through the big Gulf airport hubs, and a fall back in jet fuel prices, according to the latest market data from industry analysts Xeneta.
Global air cargo spot rates (valid for up to one month) rose +38% year-on-year in June to an average of USD 3.40 per kg but, as Xeneta predicted, the pace of growth is slowing, easing from +41% in May - a sign the market is calming from a pricing perspective.
The big surprise remains demand as AI volumes continue to make up for the fall in e-commerce traffic, air cargo’s main growth engine over the past 2-3 years.
Xeneta’s Chief Airfreight Officer, Niall van de Wouw, called June’s demand growth ‘remarkable,’ and suggested that current air cargo volumes are ‘defying gravity’, thanks mostly to soaring AI-related shipments on Asia Pacific to North America corridors.
“The scale of AI’s impact is easy to underestimate because it sits inside a small slice of total air cargo volume – below 10% of what flies. But the facts that confirm its role as the main driver of air cargo growth are undeniable,” he said. (....)