The global airfreight market continues to face problems
mainly due to high oil prices and over-capacity along certain lanes. However,
the US-South American trade lane appears to be doing well for now.
While many US airports reported declines in tonnage in
January, the Miami International Airport appears to have bucked the trend by
reporting total tonnage increase 2.07% with domestic cargo increasing 14.4% and
international cargo increasing 0.35%. While February data is still not
available for most airports, Miami has reported its data and it is another
month of positive tonnage growth – increasing almost 4% with domestic cargo
increasing 19.23% and international cargo increasing 1.83%.
UPS’ South American operations are based in Miami. In
February, the company became an all 767 freighter operator in the South
American region. Still, UPS noted in a recent
article that it has noticed more shippers routing cargo from Asia over Europe
into Brazil versus over the US into Brazil. UPS cited the introduction of
increased cargo capacity in Brazil by Emirates SkyCargo and Qatar Airways as a
major force in this shift. Regardless,
UPS continues to expand further in other South American locations such as
Colombia and Ecuador.
American Airlines
Cargo also based in Miami noted plans for further expansion into South America.
According to the company, despite the high fuel costs, air transport of such
commodities as pharmaceuticals, fruits and vegetables and seafood will continue
to be in high demand.
Although the US-South American trade tends to be one-sided,
that is, the US imports more from the region than it exports to. Most of these
imports are perishables, particularly flowers, seafood and food items. As such,
other US airports, in particular the George Bush International Airport in
Houston, Texas is vying with the Miami International Airport for a share of South
American imports. Whereas the majority of Miami’s cargo is from South America, around
10% of Houston’s total cargo is from South America. Houston is using its close
proximity to the Panama Canal and its own central geographic location as key
selling points.
The South American airfreight market remains small compared
to that of Europe, Asia and the US. However, in 2011, the region’s air cargo
traffic grew at 5.5%, second only to the Middle East. As such, capacity continues
to be added into the region as many air freight operators look for growth areas
in a depressed global market. As UPS noted, the shifting trade lane away from
the US will affect US airports such as Miami and to a lesser extent, Houston.
These airports as well as others will have to become more competitive in the
global market to avoid losing market share.