New product launches and restocking could see rising demand on key trunk lanes out of Asia in the coming months.
     A spokesman for Lufthansa Cargo said the carrier had seen “stable to slightly increasing demand in mainland China and HK” in recent weeks and that more gains could follow as the year progressed. “September is traditionally a month where new products stimulate demand from the High Tech sector and we expect this development this year again,” he said. “The same is true for the garment sector where seasonal demand increases are expected.”
      Air France KLM Martinair Cargo is also expecting a number of major product launches to boost demand in the coming months. “There is an underlying expectation that 2016 will be a big year for tech launches, particularly in the virtual reality, drone and robotic technology space,” said a spokesman. “Not to mention new smartphone developments at players like Apple and Google.”
      Some of the new product launches planned for the last quarter of 2016 are the Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset by Facebook, Sony Playstation VR headsets for PS4 consoles, GoPro’s Karma Drone, and Microsoft’s HoloLens Augmented Reality glasses, although the latest indicators suggest the latter will now probably be delayed until early 2017.
      Unconfirmed launches could also include a rumored new Surface Phone plus upgrades of Apple Watch and iPhone 7 models.
      “Just like monetary policy announcements tend to influence the stock market, new product launches have a way of boosting confidence levels and demand in the freight industry,” added the Air France KLM Martinair Cargo spokesman.
      “Should some or any of the above product launches materialize as expected, one should see demand peaks mid-October through November 2016. Apple kick-starts the ‘New Product Launch Season’ this September and one already sees Apple product and accessory shipments going out of China and Hong Kong.”
      Shanghai Pudong Int’l Airport Cargo Terminal Co., Ltd (Pactl), a JV between Shanghai Airport Group Lufthansa Cargo and JHJ Logistics Management, saw volume growth of 2 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of the year. Spokesman Lutz Grzegorz predicted that new product launches would boost the market out of China later this year and, although it was unclear at this stage how much freight would be exported from PVG, he said the hub could also benefit from inbound supply chain movements via PVG prior to export from other hubs.
      “My personal opinion is that in general the years of real peak season is over,” he added. “Having said this, I still expect an increase of 3-5 percent over last year for PVG. Considering that the previous year was outstanding, this would be an excellent result.”
      Li Wenjun, Head and SVP, Air Freight, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, told FlyingTypers that volumes out of China had trended upwards in July and August by some 3-5 percent. “We anticipate the demand to continue until mid-November this year,” he added. “The increasing demand for airfreight out of China is largely driven by growing exports in the lead-up to the year-end peak season. In addition, we are expecting new products and new technology to be launched in September and October, and this is contributing to the rising airfreight demand especially to the Americas.“
      Wenjun said China and Hong Kong would continue to be the main exporting centers as demand increased. “For the rest of Asia, their export demand will stay relatively stable and demand is expected to start picking up in early October for export from Korea, Taiwan, and Japan due to capacities taken up by China that transit through these hubs into America,” he explained.
      “Vietnam’s airfreight volume will definitely grow as it is now an important manufacturing country for both Technology/Telecommunication products and the Fashion/Garment industry.”
      The Lufthansa spokesman also said that in the coming weeks and months the outlook for China and the rest of Asia was cautiously positive, adding that the usual upswing in Q4 when the holiday season peak traditionally gives markets a boost was expected to further accelerate demand.
      He said the carrier’s new td.basic product would help attract more cargo to Lufthansa in a price sensitive market. Aimed at shippers happy to accept slightly longer transit times and available online starting in September, td.basic is a simplified versions of the carrier’s td.Pro product. “We are now adding a price offensive to our long-standing quality offensive”, said Dr. Alexis von Hoensbroech, Board Member Product and Sales at Lufthansa Cargo.
      “Our customers will be able to benefit from Lufthansa quality with particularly price-sensitive cargo. With this innovative basic offering, we are enhancing our product range and charting a path for growth in the standard cargo segment
      The Lufthansa spokesman added that the market remained highly competitive and predicted pressure on yields would remain despite the anticipated increase in demand in the coming months.
      “At Lufthansa Cargo we hope—and are confident—that we will gain some growth with our new product td.basic, which offers very attractive rates,” he added.
SkyKing

Vol. 15 No. 67
Turkish Cargo Steps Out In September
Must To Attend Events
Chuckles For September 1, 2016
A Saphir Solution For Logistics
Transforming August At EMO
Our Man In Cuba