African airlines saw their air cargo volumes decline by 0.1% in September 2023, despite global air cargo markets, showing continuing demand recovery increasing by 1.9% compared to September 2022 levels according to data for September 2023 global air cargo markets released by IATA. The decline was also despite the strong growth of demand on the Africa-Asia trade lane (+12.8%). The cargo volumes were however an improvement in performance compared to August (-3.5%). Capacity however increased to 2.7% above September 2022 levels.
Other regional airlines continued to witness gains including: Asia-Pacific airlines which saw their air cargo volumes increase by 7.7% in September 2023 compared to the same month in 2022, Latin American carriers which experienced a 2.3% increase in cargo volumes compared to September 2022, and Middle Eastern carriers which had the strongest performance in September 2023, with a 2.5% year-on-year increase in cargo volumes. North American and European carriers however registered a decline in cargo volumes at -2.2% and -1.5% respectively.
Air cargo market in detail
| SEPTEMBER 2023 (%YEAR-ON-YEAR) | WORLD SHARE *1 | CTK | ACTK | CLF (%-PT) *2 | CLF (LEVEL) *3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total Market
|
100%
|
1.9%
|
12.1%
|
-4.4%
|
43.8%
|
|
Africa
|
2.0%
|
-0.1%
|
2.7%
|
-1.2%
|
43.6%
|
|
Asia Pacific
|
32.4%
|
7.7%
|
30.5%
|
-9.9%
|
46.6%
|
|
Europe
|
21.8%
|
-1.5%
|
4.7%
|
-3.1%
|
50.0%
|
|
Latin America
|
2.7%
|
2.3%
|
14.4%
|
-3.8%
|
31.9%
|
|
Middle East
|
13.0%
|
2.5%
|
16.1%
|
-5.6%
|
42.4%
|
|
North America
|
28.1%
|
-2.2%
|
0.2%
|
-1.0%
|
39.2%
|
(*1) % of industry CTKs in 2022 (*2) Year-on-year change in load factor (*3) Load factor level
Several factors in the operating environment should be noted:
- In September, both the manufacturing output Purchasing Managers Index or PMI (49.7) and new export orders PMI (47.7) saw a slight improvement to the previous month. They remained, however, below the critical 50-point threshold, indicating a continuing, but slightly slower, annual decline in global manufacturing production and exports.
- Global cross-border trade contracted for the fifth month in a row in August, decreasing 3.8% year-over-year. This reflects the cooling global macroeconomic environment.
- Annual growth in US consumer prices stabilized in September at 3.7%, the same rate as in August. In Europe and Japan consumer price inflation slowed by 1.0 and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, to 4.9% and 3.0%, (also respectively). In China, deflation-fighting policy measures saw an annual rise in consumer prices of 0.1%.
- In September, the average price of jet fuel was USD 131.0 per barrel, marking a 43.1% increase from the May 2023 price. Recouping some of this added cost from surcharges in September contributed to the first increase in air cargo yields since November 2022.
“Air cargo eked out modest growth (1.9%) in September despite falling trade volumes and high jet fuel prices. That clearly shows the strength of air cargo’s value proposition. With the key export order and manufacturing PMIs hovering near positive territory, we can be cautiously optimistic for a strong year-end peak season,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.