Asia-Pacific cargo movement picks up

The Asia-Pacific region, which includes the Gulf states, showed a quick recovery in cargo and freight movement after September 11 last year, according to sources in the freighter industry.

Due to upward mobility in the Gulf and other parts of the Middle East, the Asia Pacific region picked up quickly from the fallout of the September 11 events.

By February/March this year, the freighter market showed an increase in flow of goods movement compared to the same period in 2001.

In 2000, 18.8 million tonnes were moved globally, which came down to 17.3 million. By the end of the current year, it will rise to 17.9 tonnes and come back to the 2000 year's level of 18.8 tonnes in 2003, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

In the UAE, Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) reported an increase in throughput last year to 3.5 million TEUs from 3 million TEUs in 2000. During the first five months of the current year, this rose to 1.6 million TEUs.

Container tonnage increased to 27.5 million last year from 24.3 million in 2000.

A recent report on the global freighter market by IATA said the global airfreight industry has been in a perilous situation throughout 2001.

The slowdown in several major economies, particularly in Japan, Singapore and the U.S. had resulted in a reduction in volumes being shipped by air as consumer demand slowed and retailers sought to reduce stocks and holding costs.

Airfreight generally serves as a leading indicator of an impending downturn (or upturn) in the economy, and monthly international volumes, measured in Freight Tonne Kilometres (FTKs) had been increasingly running in excess of 5 per cent below 2000 levels since April 2001.

Even without September 11, international airfteight volumes would have contracted in 2001.

After September 11, the decline in demand for airfreight was briefer than that suffered by passenger operations. September marked the low-point of freight volumes, whereas passenger traffic experienced steeper declines in October and November than in September.

Furthermore, the decline in freight volumes was not as severe as in passenger traffic. The worst month saw volumes of 18.3 per cent below 2000 levels, which was only 10 per cent lower than the decline already in evidence during August.

As with passenger demand the North American carriers were badly affected by the decline in freight volumes, and in early 2002 are still running over at 10 per cent below 2001 international traffic levels.

Their recovery is doubtless being held back by the worsening economic situation in several South American countries, reflected in the severe year-on-year decline in tonnages for South American carriers since the turn of the year.

So, the Asia-Pacific region, due to lesser dependence on American goods, suffered less, unlike the North and South America.

The expectation, according the industry sources, is that the freight market will recover earlier than passenger, globally.

An IATA study forecasts, the freight growth to rise to its peak in 2003 and then stabilise around five per cent.