With our strong presence in the expedited international airfreight sector, the U-Freight Group notes that Xeneta’s most recent data for air cargo demand showed that volumes continued to confound expectations in June thanks to \u201cexceptional demand\u201d for semiconductor and AI-related hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest figures for June show that demand was up 7% year on year, capacity was up 3% as Middle East operations continue to recover and the dynamic cargo load factor improved by three percentage points to 62%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, average air cargo spot rates in June were flat on a month earlier at USD3.40 per kg and are up 38% year on year, although this is down from the 41% year-on-year improvement registered in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xeneta said the big surprise in air cargo performance this year continues to be AI volumes that are making up for a fall in e-commerce traffic, air cargo\u2019s main growth engine over the past two to three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It added that the scale of AI\u2019s impact is easy to underestimate because it sits inside a small slice of total air cargo volume \u2013 below 10% of what flies. But the facts that confirm its role as the main driver of air cargo growth are undeniable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global semiconductor sales more than doubled year-on-year in April, up 106%, the strongest growth since the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics organisation began keeping records in 1986. That surge has made the transpacific this year\u2019s strongest air freight corridor, even as China\u2013US volumes weakened under tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n