E-commerce boom opens doors for LatAm trade lanes

PANAMA CITY — As the air cargo market continues to recover, aided by e-commerce growth and a slowing in disruptions in the Red Sea, Latin American shippers and carriers are seeing an increase in trade lanes between Asia and Latin America, panelists at Cargo Facts LATAM 2024 said today. [caption id="attachment_57143140" align="alignleft" width="349"] Panelists at CF LATAM 2024 in Panama City on May 14 discuss current market trends and e-commerce growth in Latin America. From left are moderator Guillermo Ochovo, director at Cargo Facts Consulting; Jaime Alvarez, senior director of cargo at Copa Airlines; Andres Bianchi, chief executive at LATAM Cargo; Diogo Elias, senior vice president at Avianca Cargo; and Pablo Rousselin, vice president of aviation and general manager for Panama at DHL Express. (Photo/Cargo Facts)[/caption] E-commerce in Latin America, stemming mainly from Chinese manufacturers, has “grown exponentially” since the pandemic in 2020, Pablo Rousselin , vice president of aviation and general manager for Panama at DHL Express , said during the panel discussion. “Before the pandemic, you would ask anyone [what] AliExpress or Alibaba [was], and they wouldn’t even know,” he said. “Now, everyone buys it.” Chinese shippers have overcome language barriers and have reduced shipping times and prices , making e-commerce shipments fast and convenient, Rousselin said. “Asia-Europe and Asia-Latin America [trade lanes] have been growing, I would say, exponentially,” he said. “And to us, it’s a market that will keep on booming. We are betting on it. And even our fleet strategy is designed to absorb that.” Some Chinese shippers are expanding operations to Mexico because of this growth, contributing to nearshoring trends, Jaime Alvarez , senior director of cargo at Copa Airlines , said during the panel. “What one would see lately is that nearshoring is booming,” he said. “Automotive is really getting stronger. Mexico is really developing technology at really high levels. We’ve seen, for example, new flights to Mexico ... because China’s moving some of the factories now to Mexico. … This is how I see the market changing [and] that will affect directly the [market] environment.” De minimis reform With new growth, however, some governments are changing de minimis laws regarding e-commerce shipments, something the U.S. is also considering. U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation that would establish national-level agreements of reciprocity and deny de minimis benefits to countries like China and Russia. Brazil ended a de minimis tax exemption for international parcels of $50 or less in April 2023. These shipments are now subject to the flat 60% duty attributable to all imports. “Today, more than 95% of the parcels shipped into Brazil are worth less than $50,” Andres Bianchi , chief executive at LATAM Cargo , said during the panel. “So, the [government] developed the shipping fees and [implemented them] in order to sustain the kind of growth rates we’ve seen on e-commerce. "The question is, what happens now?” Bianchi said. “Because in the search for quick, fast [shipping] times at a lower price point, in order to be able to put yourself under the cap of de minimis, you’re going to have to look for cheaper rates, and that’s where [some] strategies become irrelevant. So, it becomes more of a ‘how do you design a network?’” Air Cargo Next has launched a business directory listing cargo carriers, service providers and technology companies. Each category has sub-categories, allowing users to find the right business to meet their needs. Users can also add their businesses to the directory and claim existing entries. Visit the Air Cargo Next Directory here.

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