Ocean freight threatens as China high-tech plunge hits air cargo trade
2012 03 08
- Details
STAGNATION in volumes from China's electronics has damaged the country's air cargo sector.
But the 17.4 per cent fall export growth, because of falling demand from the US and Europe as well as the 23 per cent decrease in electronic imports did not hurt revenue which increased 11 per cent year on year to US$468 billion.
The electronics sector, of which computers and mobile phones are the top two exports, account for 35 per cent of China's total export value, noted the UK's Transport Intelligence.
Although airports and airlines experienced export and import declines, contributing factors in slack demand for air cargo carriers were marked by decreases in high-value goods shipped as well as a possible shift from air freight to ocean freight for such shipments.
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals (Hactl) has experienced a nine per cent decreases in exports and an 8.8 per cent fall in imports, with overall volumes holding steady being of rising transhipments to a total of 2.7 million tonnes.
Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific and its sister airline Dragonair reported a drop in tonnage for the region of 8.6 per cent. Taiwan's biggest carrier of China Airlines is to park its third Boeing 747 freighter due to slackening demand while Singapore Airlines is struggling with 2011's final quarter bleeding losses of $32 million missing break-even factor which was inflated by higher operating costs and lower rates.
The latest figures of 4.5 per cent inflation for China might be off mark given the double digit growth against a drop in tonnage of six to eight per cent. The results of air cargo carriers' performance in March will answer this in accurate year on year comparisons, said the report.
Source Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
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