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MariTrade AIRFREIGHT
EXPORTS UPDATE |
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The debate on what is
happening to exports of perishables – air and sea – is intriguing. There is
definitely a strong up-tick in airfreight exports of perishables such as fruit,
vegetables, meat and seafood. These analyses exclude exports of animals which
is another story. Claims have been made that
the decline in shipping capacity on the Australian coast is responsible for
the surge in air freight exports of perishables. There is also the argument
that discounting by airlines has drawn perishable freight away from shipping. The following graphs give
you the trends. Exports of perishables by sea have declined slightly from
trend, down about 50 000 tonnes in the Jan – March quarter (read the Left
axis). On the other hand exports by air
have jumped about 12 000 tonnes (read the right axis). To put these figures
into perspective, air capacity would have to double existing levels to have any
impact on sea freight volumes, a national effort on the scale of the Berlin
Airlift of the 1950s.
The other argument –
airfreight is drawing perishables away from sea freight – also needs some
more thought. The unit value (FOB values /weight) of perishables carried by
air has consistently maintained a multiple of 2.5 per kilogram or tonne . In
other words the value of perishables carried by air is around $9/kg and by
sea about $3.50 and there is no evidence of a change in this multiple. As I see it, there are two
different markets for perishables, sea freight with relatively low value
products and air freight carrying product which can afford a higher freight
rate.
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Contact:
David Bendall +61 2 99601422; david@maritrade.com.au |
