Specializing in International Freight Forwarding, by way of ocean, air, rail and truck freight-RISINGSUN

THE usual air freight demand failed to spike in the run-up to Chinese New Year, though sea freight performed more strongly than expected, according to executives from DHL Global Forwarding.

Senior vice president of air freight at DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, Li Wenjun, said the air freight market had been soft compared to a year earlier due to lower demand.

"The market rate went up a little just before Chinese New Year (on February 8-10) as there was a volume spike and cancellation of flights by the airlines," he told Lloyd`s Loading List.

"We see manufacturing companies offering longer holidays to their employees, which means lesser output from manufacturers, so we expect demand to remain weak after Chinese New Year," said Mr Li. "As such, rate increases may not be sustainable after Chinese New Year."

Senior vice president of ocean freight at DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, David Goldberg, said that despite weak purchasing manager index (PMI) figures for January in terms of manufacturing output and new export orders, ocean volumes in the lead-up to CNY had been stronger than expected across all markets for DHL.

"The question will be how the first quarter looks as a whole as it is hard to compare January and February on a single month basis with the slightly different timing of Chinese New Year each year," he said. "From the forecasts we have been receiving from customers, we are optimistic about Q1 2016."

He added: "We would expect to see a pick up around end February once the production starts rolling again."

Build-up to Chinese New Year fails to drive up air freight demand