Drewry Airfreight Insight, a new online airfreight market intelligence service launched earlier this month by Drewry’s Supply Chain Advisory division, confirms airfreight’s growing popularity among international shippers as cost and congestion issues continue to impede ocean transport.
2024 has been a year of continued supply chain disruption for ocean freight shippers and has forced many to think and act creatively to alleviate the pressures on their global transport networks. With unreliable transit times and a myriad problems in ocean transport, airfreight has stepped-in and aided procurement teams at a time of need.
As congestion has plagued the ocean freight sector, Drewry has seen double digit growth in airfreight volumes, particularly out of Asia, but freighter capacity has remained buoyant enough to sustain this growth, and although rates have gone up, they have not matched the steep increases in ocean spot rates. Despite the demand boom in airfreight, between Dec.-23 and Sept.-24 the cost ratio between airfreight and ocean freight spot rates has narrowed from 25.9x to 5.6x.
“Procurement teams within global shippers/BCOs and forwarders need access to up to date market insights across both ocean and air sectors,” said Chantal McRoberts, Director and Head of Advisory within Drewry Supply Chain Advisors. “This new monthly service provides the timely insights stakeholders need to determine the ‘best fit’ transport mode for their business.”
The service will focus on the key drivers of the airfreight market (supply, demand and load factors) on all key routes and as well as key regional indices, and is enhanced by spot rate benchmarks against 127 of the most popular air routes.
Airfreight Insight is accessed via Drewry’s digital Container Freight Portal which also provides subscribers with wrap-around content such as Drewry’s World Container Index, Intra Asia Rate Index, Ocean Contract Rate Index and Port Throughput Index, further enhancing the ocean freight market intelligence offered.