Logistics Update May – Now also with Air Freight

DI Handel’s new logistics barometer gives an overview and takes the temperature of the transport and logistics market. With the newly added “air” section in the logistics barometer, we now cover capacity and price levels for a large selection of routes within ocean, air, and road.

Ocean

Spot rates on the average have stabilized mainly due to blank sailings (adjusting capacity to demand). Keeping in mind that e.g. Shanghai-Rotterdam price level has dropped roughly 80 pct. since same period last year.

Most of the carriers are offering attractive long term rate proposals prior to the traditional peak season period.

The average delay for late vessel arrivals remains below 6 days.

There are no major service disruptions across European Ports due to the softening markets. Total number of waiting container vessels are less than two days except for the port of Antwerp.

Air

Global market volume is estimated to have dropped approx. 10 pct. compared to Q1-22. Pricing in Q1-23 remains significantly below figures from last year, but about 50 pct. higher than pre-covid-levels (Index 155). 

Constantly increasing capacity from passenger flights continues to put pressure on the market-rates. Recent strikes in UK, France and Germany causing delays and uncertainties about schedules and performance. China and other markets continue to slowly reopen.

Road 

The trend from the beginning of the year continues. There is a negative development in volumes transported in Europe, which has continued in April. The drop is estimated to about 8-10 pct. compared to the same period in 2022. This has meant that there is no or little challenges with capacity. It is fully present and can cover the market despite the lack of truck drivers.

The spot market is very volatile, generally with a minor decrease in costs compared to Q1 (and adjusted for public holidays). For contract hauliers, the costs are still quite high, as they are still affected by previous changes including wage adjustments, the road package, and the oil price.