Global air cargo demand remained strong in August, with volumes up +6 percent year-on-year, meaning shippers must wait a little longer to see a bigger drop in still-elevated freight rates according to a recent report from industry analysts Xeneta. Air cargo’s steady summer figures continued last month after the +5 percent year-on-year rise in volumes recorded in July, which the report found underlined the market’s resilience through the traditionally quieter summer months. Year-on-year spot rate growth is easing again but global air cargo spot rates (valid for up to one month) remained +24 percent higher year-on-year in August at an average of US$ 3.13 per kg.
The pace of rate growth eased for a third consecutive month, following +28 percent in July, +38 percent in June, and the +41 percent peak in May. Spot rates also fell -3 percent month-on-month, a smaller step down than July’s -6 percent decline.
“How you see the market depends on where you sit. Rates are easing their way down month-on-month, and the gap to last year’s levels is narrowing, perfectly in line with what we expected, and airlines will be hoping to hold on at the current level until the busier season starts,” said, Niall van de Wouw, Chief Airfreight Officer, Xeneta.
“But shippers still feel they’re owed and want to push rate levels down. If you were buying something that is +24 percent more expensive now than a year ago, and that has a big effect on budgets, you wouldn’t be happy. But we are not picking up signals on a big uptick in demand in the coming months, and we think air freight rates will go down further, just not as quickly as shippers want to see. It remains a seller’s market.”
Shippers continue to buy more capacity on the short-term market, waiting to see if the month-on-month downward trend in rates accelerates to deliver more budgetary relief. But with demand growth continuing to outpace supply and jet fuel prices rising again in recent weeks, the descent is being taken in small steps.
Capacity in August was flat year-on-year, leaving Xeneta’s dynamic load factor – its measurement of capacity utilisation based on the volume and weight of cargo flown alongside available capacity – three percentage points higher versus August 2025 at 61 percent.
The clearest structural shift in the data is driven by a decline in e-commerce. China’s low-value and e-commerce exports fell -11 percent year-on-year in July 2026, according to Xeneta and Trade and Transport Group analysis of China Customs’ data. Exports to Europe dropped the most, down -25 percent compared to a year ago – the steepest decline of any region. This was almost certainly as a reaction to the EU’s removal of its €150 duty-free threshold for low value goods on 1 July 2026 and its introduction of a flat €3 per item customs duty.
“This negative market reaction is likely to be short-lived. It’s way too early to know what the longer-term impact will be on e-commerce volumes from China-Europe, but a positive longer-term indicator, in any case, is how quickly China-US shipments recovered,” commented Van de Wouw as he expects a similar recovery in China-Europe e-commerce volumes.
“Right now, I think a lot of e-commerce shippers may be incurring the extra cost in their product while they work out the best way to sell it: whether to make their product more expensive or to separate customs duty as a handling fee. But consumers are not going to stop buying on the big Chinese e-commerce platforms.”
“I think if you had asked 10,000 Temu users ‘What is de minimis?’ they would have had to look it up. The price differential of goods is also so much in many cases, versus products made in Europe, that consumers are unlikely to change their buying habits.”
But the impact of lower volumes, however short-term they may be, is already visible in the freight market. China to Western Europe spot rates averaged USD 3.85 per kg in August, down a further -6 percent month-on-month following July’s steep -22 percent decline. Northeast Asia to Europe spot rates fell -3 percent month-on-month, with Southeast Asia to Europe down -7 percent to US$ 4.20 per kg.
Elsewhere, corridor-level rates continued to be set by supply and demand rather than fuel prices. In week 35 (24–30 August), spot rates into the Middle East remained far above late-February pre-conflict levels, up +100 percent from South Asia, +66 percent from Europe, +21 percent from Northeast Asia, and +20 percent from Southeast Asia. On the transpacific, AI-related shipments continue to underpin the market, with Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia to North America spot rates +36 percent and +34 percent above late-February levels respectively, and Northeast Asia to North America averaging US$ 5.76 per kg in August, up +2 percent month-on-month.
It was a different story on transatlantic lanes, where abundant summer belly capacity kept Europe to North America spot rates -25 percent below late-February levels, although the corridor showed early signs of firming with rates up +2 percent month-on-month in August.
“Only external events can tip the current favourable headwinds behind air cargo’s resilience. The market has been performing at a relatively stable level for several months. Yes, of course, shippers want to pay less for capacity, but versus some of the major disruptions we have seen, a period of relative calm should be celebrated, and the resilience of air freight appreciated,” Van de Wouw continued.
The post Six percent demand growth in August showing air cargo resilience appeared first on Air Cargo Week.
Go to Source
Author: Jaime Gair
