Prime Freight’s summary of a June 2022 report by The Loadstar. Read the original for the full story.
In June 2022 The Loadstar reported that air cargo rates out of Dhaka had fallen sharply as demand for Bangladeshi apparel weakened in the US and Europe.
Airlines were charging about $3.50 per kg to Europe and $8.50 to the US and Canada, down from $8–12 and up to $16 respectively a few months earlier. Forwarders said consumers in Bangladesh’s main markets were cutting back on clothing after the war in Ukraine and the wider economic slowdown, and stores were well stocked, so there was less need to fly goods.
A director of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association said airlines could not pass on higher fuel costs because demand had dropped, the usual rush before the Eid holiday had not happened, and buyers who had planned ten containers were taking two or three. Rates were falling by five to ten cents a day. Airport officials said the explosive-detection scanners behind earlier delays were working, with spare capacity. The garment exporters’ association said brands had cut orders by about 20% for the September–November season.
What it meant for shippers
Falling airfreight rates usually signal weaker demand rather than a lasting bargain. For apparel importers in mid-2022 it was a good moment to review the split between air and ocean, while expecting rates to rise again when demand recovered.