EU-US Trade War Escalates Over Disputed Aviation Subsidies

(Bloomberg) — The European Union is preparing retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. over subsidies to Boeing Co., significantly escalating transatlantic trade tensions hours after Washington vowed to hit the EU with duties over its support for Airbus SE. The two sets of punitive measures are the latest twists in a 14-year-old dispute that the U.S. […]

• Bloomberg News
• April 9, 2019

Cargo traffic declined in January

Almost unanimously carriers headquartered in Asia, Europe, and the Americas have begun reporting lower year-over-year cargo traffic for the month of January 2019. As can be seen from the chart at right, of the six major Asia-based carriers that have reported January traffic figures, all but one – China Airlines – have reported year-over-year declines […]

• Charles Kauffman
• February 20, 2019

Chinese fiscal reform could be a boon to e-commerce, says Alibaba

The Chinese Government’s sudden affinity for fiscal policy expansion is expected to boost consumer consumption and online business activity from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through a series of pro-consumption fiscal policies, said Joe Tsai, EVP, Alibaba Group. Such fiscal policies also allay fears that new “e-commerce policies” – which aim to make gray-market transactions […]

• Charles Kauffman
• January 30, 2019

Top 4 Cargo Facts predictions for 2019

To all of our readers, Happy New Year, and our best wishes for a productive and prosperous 2019! As a prelude to what we are sure will be a busy first half of the year — at Cargo Facts as well, with the launch of our new innovation-focused Cargo Facts EMEA event in Frankfurt, 4-6 […]

• Caryn Livingston
• December 31, 2018

Air freight falters on weaker economy in DHL, WorldACD outlooks

While air cargo yields and volumes were up 7% and 2%, respectively, year-over-year for October, according to WorldACD, the latest release of DHL’s Global Trade Barometer assigns November air cargo trade its lowest index score since DHL launched the Barometer in January of this year. The falling outlook moving into peak season hints at larger […]

• Caryn Livingston
• December 3, 2018

Winners and losers of a US exit from the Universal Postal Union

Yesterday, the Department of State motioned to drop out of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in an attempt to mitigate the subsidization of small parcel shipments coming into the United States from abroad – notably from China. Whether the move will put a damper on flows of international airmail moving through the US, and the […]

• Charles Kauffman
• October 18, 2018

FedEx FY19 off to a strong start in first quarter

Yesterday, Memphis-based FedEx reported revenue up 11.5%  y-o-y for its 1QFY19 (ended 31 August) to US$17.05 billion. Operating income for the quarter rose 10.3% to $1.07 billion, while net income jumped 40.1% to $835 million. Looking beyond the quarter, company CEO Fred Smith told analysts during an earnings call the company is anticipating record-breaking volume […]

• Charles Kauffman
• September 18, 2018

Air cargo volume growth flattens in June

When Netherlands-based WorldACD reported air cargo performance results for May, the outlook for continued cargo growth was in question, summarized as “Is the party really over?” With yesterday’s release of June results from WorldACD, the answer seems to suggest that although the party isn’t truly winding down, it is certainly on hiatus for the summer. […]

• Caryn Livingston
• August 1, 2018