July demand indicates a winter of discontent for airlines and forwarders as global air cargo rates continue to plunge, according to the latest weekly market analysis by CLIVE Data Services, part of Xeneta. Shippers will hold the upper hand in the next round of winter airfreight rates negotiations after another month of falling demand in July saw volumes drop -2% month-over-month, and the general global air freight spot rate decline at a hastening pace of 40% or more for a fourth consecutive month. Last month saw global air cargo capacity recover by +7% compared to a year ago, as airlines’ summer schedules stepped up to meet heightened passenger traffic. In line with this, the July global average dynamic load factor, which measures cargo load factor based on both volume and weight perspectives of cargo flown and capacity available, was at 55%, on a par with June 2023 but -3% pts below the level of a year ago. More capacity at a time of falling volumes placed added pressure on airfreight rates. The -41% drop in July versus the same month in 2022, pushed the average air cargo spot rate down to USD 2.20 per kg. This compares to a rate of USD 2.31 per kg recorded in June.

Leasing activity in India’s industrial & logistics sector surged to 19.1 million sq. ft. across eight major cities during the first half of 2023 (Jan-Jun), marking a substantial 35% year-on-year increase, according to a report by CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd. Leasing activity was led by Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Chennai, accounting for a collective 60% share in total leasing during January-June. Notably, all cities, except Bengaluru, exhibited a discernible upswing in I&L leasing as compared to the same period in the previous year. The report suggests that festival season sales are likely to contribute to sustained leasing activity during July-December. The supply side also witnessed impressive growth, recording a substantial 78% YoY increase, culminating at 17.7 million sq. ft. during Jan-Jun. This surge was attributed to the culmination of pent-up supply in select cities. Key contributors to this growth were Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai, collectively accounting for more than half of the total project completions, the report added. Major developers, backed by institutional funds, played a crucial role in this supply surge, contributing approximately 39% to the overall supply during the same period. Project completions were predominantly observed in Delhi-NCR, followed by Chennai and Hyderabad, collectively representing over two-thirds of project finalizations.

Leading tech service provider, CargoAi, in the second half of 2023 has plans to announce significant enhancements to the existing solutions such as an extension of CargoWALLET product for airlines, rate management for CargoMART, as well as move to the ISO 14083 certification for Cargo2ZERO’s CO2 calculation, says Matt Petot, CEO, CargoAi. The enhancements will boost efficiency by adding to the functionalities for CargoMART, where thousands of forwarders carry out multiple daily activities for airfreight booking. Having a centralized rate management system ensures that multiple users or offices can access the same database of information without needing send emails to and fro about different types of rates between offices, or to their shippers. The CargoWALLET app will allow forwarders to pay carriers directly– in this way, the need for manual reconciliation by forwarder and airline accounts teams is greatly reduced and improves workforce upskilling, allowing them to start moving away from low-value tasks. CargoCONNECT and CargoGATE benefit from all these enhancements due to the API architecture which makes feature deployment seamless from one product to the next.

Leading international freight forwarder, Galaxy Freight was honoured as the Best Time Critical Agent at the recently concluded India Cargo Awards in New Delhi. Piyush Srivastava, IES, Senior Economic Advisor graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Known as the “Oscars of the Cargo Industry,” the India Cargo Awards 2023 hosted by Cargo Talk (DDP Group Publication) serves as an all-India platform created with a vision to recognise excellence in the Cargo-Freight-Logistics Industry across various domains, including Rail, Road, Air, Sea, Allied Services, Warehousing, Technology, 3rd Party Logistics, and more. Our world-class awards ceremonies are known for their formal Black-Tie affair, filled with glitz and glamour, attended by the most influential personalities in the Cargo Industry.

The latest figures from IATA show that in June air cargo demand decreased by 3.4% year on year, while capacity was up 9.7% and the average load factor was down 5.8 percentage points at 43.2%. The percentage fall in volumes was the lowest level since February 2022 and compares with a fall of 8.1% over the first six months of the year. The capacity increase for the month was also lower than the double-digit percentage increases recorded between March and May, reflecting strategic capacity adjustments airlines are making amid a weakened demand environment, IATA said. IATA director general Willie Walsh said: “We remain hopeful that the difficult trading conditions for air cargo will moderate as inflation eases in major economies. This, in turn, could encourage the central banks to loosen the money supply, which could stimulate greater economic activity.” Looking at performance indicators, IATA said that global cross-border trade decreased by 2.4% year on year in May, reflecting the “cooling demand environment and challenging macroeconomic conditions”. And June saw both the manufacturing output Purchasing Managers Index or PMI (49.2) and new export orders PMI (47.1) below the 50 mark, indicating a decline in global manufacturing production and exports. Looking at regional performance, Asia Pacific airlines’ cargo volumes decreased by 3.6% in June “mainly owing to weak demand on within-Asia markets”. IATA added that the Asia-North America trade lane saw improved performance.

MASKargo has begun tracking dollies as part of its efforts to improve operational efficiency and global customers. The carrier had fitted a digital tracking system on its 20ft dollies at the airport that has a geofencing alarm with 1.5 km coverage. The system increases dolly utilisation by automatically allocating dollies within the airport to prepare for peak hours. Abu Bakar Kassim, MASkargo’s ramp handling manager, said: “There are only 16 units of the 20ft dollies in our fleet and these are constantly in great demand due to their ability to take on more weight per trip. With a tracker on each dolly, we now have complete visibility of the dollies across the airport grounds.” He added that the trackers allowed the ground handling division to eliminate manual searches by monitoring in real-time for quick retrieval. The airline has been investing in its digital capabilities over the last few years, joining the online booking platforms, CargoAi, cargo.one.

National Airlines, a division of National Air Cargo Group, has entered an interline agreement with Middle East’s Etihad Cargo to successfully roll out the ICAIR23 programme for the United States Postal Service (USPS). This agreement initiates a unique partnership, as it combines National’s extensive experience in providing international freight transportation services with Etihad Cargo’s global commercial network. Under phase 1 of the ICAIR23 programme, National Airlines with P1 preferences will dispatch USPS civilian, military, and diplomatic mail using the scheduled services of Etihad Cargo across several awarded lanes for the period 2023 -2027. “We are looking forward to this association and hope to provide best-in-class mail delivery experiences to customers around the world through this programme”, commented Christopher Alf, Chairman, National Air Cargo Group in a release. Tim Isik, Vice President, Commercial at Etihad Cargo, said, “Etihad Cargo is committed to making the transportation of mail across the carrier’s network as seamless and efficient as possible. Etihad Cargo’s partnership with National Air Cargo Group will enable the two airlines to join forces to enhance international USPS mail deliveries, providing greater connectivity to destinations across Etihad Cargo’s global network, and provide customers with an efficient service.”

LogiNext introduced an AI-enabled payment module, focused towards offering convenience to the enterprises in making better decisions while choosing their carrier partners for smoother and cost-efficient deliveries. The new feature is aimed ultimately at creating a revenue model that is suitable for everyone in the logistics chain using a smarter costing strategy with the power of automation. The platform offers the facility to compare charges of various carriers and drivers at a single place so that enterprises make an informed choice on picking the best one from the lot. With the help of AI enabled and automated rate charts, LogiNext eliminates the manual intervention required for making such decisions. It also prioritizes various essential factors such as product specifications, distance of delivery, discounts, reattempts made and more.

To emphasize on multimodal logistics operations in Northeastern Region and for connecting with the neighboring Southeast Asian countries and Bangladesh, Bhutan & Nepal utilizing cost-effective land/multimodal transportation routes, the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) held its 15th Executive Committee (EC) Meeting on August 4 and 5, 2023 in Kolkata. Hosted by Calcutta Customs House Agents Association (CCHAA), the meeting also focused on opportunities and challenges of utilizing inland waterways and surface transports. The EC Meeting was attended by the Office Bearers and members. Customs Brokers from Guwahati and Shillong regions were also invited to exchange ideas on the potential of this region from the interest of EXIM trade, Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarding and logistics industry. According to Shankar Shinde, Chairman, FFFAI, considering the huge importance of the untapped Northeast Region, the Federation would expand its network and strengthen activities in this region to facilitate the EXIM trade, in line with the endeavour of the present Government by creating conducive policies and setting up of required infrastructure for multimodal logistics operations. Other major topics discussed in the 15th EC Meeting of FFFAI were related to Customs, GST, Ports & Sea Freight, Airport & Airfreight, ICDs, etc. Dissemination of information through various media/channels was also discussed with adequate emphasis. .

Asia Shipping International Transport Pvt Ltd wins Best Air Freight Forwarding Company award at the recently concluded India Cargo Awards in New Delhi. Piyush Srivastava, IES, Senior Economic Advisor graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Known as the “Oscars of the Cargo Industry,” the India Cargo Awards 2023 hosted by Cargo Talk (DDP Group Publication) serves as an all-India platform created with a vision to recognise excellence in the Cargo-Freight-Logistics Industry across various domains, including Rail, Road, Air, Sea, Allied Services, Warehousing, Technology, 3rd Party Logistics, and more. Our world-class awards ceremonies are known for their formal Black-Tie affair, filled with glitz and glamour, attended by the most influential personalities in the Cargo Industry.