Forwarders see decline in airborne shipments of retail goods

The marked decline in airborne shipments of retail goods in the final quarter of this year provides further evidence of a flat 2022 peak season. All consumer goods, including fashion, high tech, toys and shoes, are below peak season volumes, Eric Martin-Neuville, executive vice president of freight forwarding at Geodis, told Air Cargo World. Falling demand “We are witnessing a drop in demand on the airfreight market for goods originating in China and bound for both Europe and North America,”. Martin-Neuville said. “Neither the fashion vertical nor the consumer high-tech sector have showed the type of volumes which are normally expected at this time of the year. A drop year over year of between 15% and 25% is certainly visible.” The drop does not appear to be compensated by either an increase in industrial goods or in e-commerce demand, he noted. [caption id="attachment_96988" align="alignright" width="392"] (Photo: Geodis)[/caption] Geodis enjoys a balanced portfolio in terms of verticals, but retail remains below 20% of the total in terms of tonnage carried, Martin-Neuville said. “Nevertheless, it is an important component of our business and more specifically one of the main drivers of the traditional yearend peak season,” he added. “Its perceived weakness is impacting the market as a whole.” While some ocean volumes shifted to air following the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic due to uncertainty in the maritime market, the normalization of ocean shipping is moving volumes back to sea, Martin-Neuville said. “Beyond that, high stocks in consumption areas are discouraging importers from using airfreight to ‘fast forward’ their orders,” he added. Increasing the footprint in Germany Meanwhile, Geodis has announced plans to acquire trans-o-flex, a privately owned German company operating in the premium express delivery sector that specializes in logistics services for pharmaceuticals and has a presence in Austria, with around 2,000 employees working out of 77 locations. E-commerce remains strong Although SEKO Logistics is seeing a downward trend in airfreight in relation to the traditional retail business, as a result of high inventory levels, its international e-commerce volumes are holding steady on many trade lanes, Shawn Richard, SEKO Logistics’ senior vice president, International Service Centers, told Air Cargo World . “The exception here is China, due to both supply and demand shocks related to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and most recently to the spike in cases that is causing additional disruptions and downtrending,” Richard said. SEKO’s e-commerce volumes remain strong and its fulfilment customers are making some upward revision in their forecasts, he noted. “For us, it’s not an issue of too little demand but rather oversupply – and with holiday sales we expect purchase orders for retail to begin spiking up,” Richard added. “However, from the U.K. and EU there is a noticeable decrease in fast fashion items.” Richard also highlighted a slight softening and downward trend in imports of computer equipment and peripheral devices, as well as cell phones, the latter being attributed to supply chain disruptions due to a zero tolerance lockdown policy at major assembly plants in China. “We see this situation as temporary,” he said. “The number of cases [in China] will eventually decline and restrictions will continue to be relaxed as the country recovers from the pandemic.” Retail and e-commerce, for all SEKO’s services — including airfreight — represent over 45% of the logistics provider’s revenues, Richard added.

Forwarders see decline in airborne shipments of retail goods

EFW completes DHL’s 10th A330-300P2F

China Postal shows interest in U.S. cargo markets

Related Posts

Challenge Group launches engine dolly at LGG

New de minimis executive action targets Chinese retailers

CVC willing to bump DB Schenker bid after losing to DSV

China Postal shows interest in U.S. cargo markets

Cargo Facts Free Newsletters

Cargo Facts Connect Podcast

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password