Shippers need to be prepared for expensive air charters on the transpacific route in the fourth quarter of the year. E-commerce sales and volcanic ash will begin to affect airline freight capacity.
Freight forwarders and carriers are currently reporting record rates and high demand from Hong Kong and China to the USA, Brazil and Mexico. “There is high demand for space allocation every week,” said one Hong Kong-based air freight forwarder. “Air freight rates to Brazil and Mexico keep growing higher, and there is sill demand for space.
He said that the majority of air freight to the US currently is e-commerce goods. Whole warehouses on the west coast of the USA were being dedicated to e-retail.
“The e-commerce business is affecting freight space allocations to the US. The main air services to the US in the fourth quarter will be master loader charter flights,” he added.