US air trade in June: COVID shipments decline

June data for the US shows a large decline in overall exports (-23%) while imports are still down by 3% compared to June 2019. In May, exports and imports declined by 24% and 6% respectively. COVID-related imports were again among the top performers along with semiconductors and related equipment. Aerospace and automotive components remain among the worst performers for both, US imports and exports. Personal protective equipment keeps driving the high growth within the apparel and footwear import category, a 71% rise compared to June 2019. The table below shows an overview of performance by product group from our U.S. Air Trade Database. U.S. Air trade in June 2020 and June 2019, air weight in metric tonnes (Source: CFC Air Trade Database, USA Trade Online) COVID-related shipments now account for about 25% of all air imports from China, a significant decline from May, when COVID medical supplies accounted for 40% of Chinese air imports. The overall picture also shows a reduction in this category, dropping to about 15% of all imports and matching April numbers. We believe the peak for this share was reached in May and we could see a slow decline but the overall share will still be substantial. Medical equipment related to COVID has gone up and this fact could be linked to some orders previously placed that have been delivered recently. The following two charts show the share of COVID shipments of medical supplies, protective equipment, disinfectants and related supplies. It is still difficult to estimate how the rest of the year will look but we should expect normal air freight commodities to show a slight improvement in July and August, mostly driven by consumer spending and manufacturing activity rising.

US air trade in June: COVID shipments decline

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