Air cargo demand grew in March as businesses rushed to ship goods before the US imposed new tariffs, driving a rise in freight activity.
According to aircargonews, IATA data shows that demand measured in cargo tonne km terms increased by 4.4% year on year, while capacity was up 4.3% and the cargo load factor was flat at 47.5%.
The airline association said that the March demand levels were a record for the month, while performance also reversed a decline of 0.1% registered in February.
IATA director general Willie Walsh said the increase is likely to be linked to the buildup of inventory before US tariffs kicked in.
“March cargo volumes were strong. It is possible that this is partly a front-loading of demand as some businesses tried to beat the well-telegraphed 2 April tariff announcement by the Trump Administration,” Walsh said.
“The uncertainty over how much of the 2 April proposals will be implemented may eventually weigh on trade. In the meantime, the lower fuel costs, which are also a result of the same uncertainty, are a short-term positive factor for air cargo.
”And, within the temporary pause on implementation, we hope that political leaders will be able to shift trade tensions to reliable agreements that can restore confidence in global supply chains.”
IATA’s assumption appears to be backed by emerging economic reports. The US trade deficit in March jumped by more than 9% to $162bn.
Commentators suggest this is down to companies quickly importing into the US to avoid the tariffs.
Looking at trade indicators, world industrial output grew 3.2% year on year, and trade volumes expanded 2.9%, IATA said.
US inflation was 2.4%, down 0.4 percentage points from February, EU consumer inflation was 2.5% and Japan’s rate fell 0.1% to 3.6%.
“China remains in deflation but this eased to -0.1%,” IATA said.
In terms of regional performance, airlines from Asia Pacific noted a 9.6% increase in cargo traffic in March – the strongest growth of any region.
North American carriers weren’t far behind with a 9.5% improvement. There was a 4.5% increase for European airlines, while Middle Eastern carriers noted a 3.2% fall.
In Latin America, there was a 5.8% improvement and African airlines suffered a 13.4% drop.
”The Europe-North America route was the busiest trade lane in March. The largest trade lane by market share, Asia-North America, also grew strongly, possibly encouraged by front-loading shipments ahead of potential increased tariffs,” IATA said. ”Europe-Middle East and Africa-Asia were the only trade lanes to decline in March.”
