➤ The looming concern is the planned April 2, 2025 rollout of new reciprocal tariffs by the US on its trading partners.  

➤ Low demand plus a growth in capacity helped push rates on all routes below 2024 levels.  

➤ March demand on Asia – N. America routes has remained stagnant, showing no growth since after the Chinese New Year holiday. Forecasted demand has not met expectations, or has not materialized as projected, per Flexport.

➤ On Asia – Europe routes capacity remains stable, with no additional blank sailings announced for April.  Demand has shown a slight uptick, per Flexport.

➤ Some demand has been driven by frontloading as importers look to get ahead of looming tariffs.  However, eventual tariff roll outs or enough inventory build ups would put an end to this pull forward and will likely mean a weaker than usual H2, per Freightos.

➤ The National Retail Federation has lowered its projections for Q2 imports into the US. However volumes are still expected to be higher than last year.

➤ While rates have fallen, they remain more than 70% higher than in 2019 due to the Red Sea crisis, per Freightos.

➤ Global air cargo demand remained stable week-on-week. Average worldwide air freight rates were +5% higher. 

➤ Air cargo volumes from the Asia-Pacific to Europe increased +4%, however Asia-Pacific to Europe spot rates fell -3% – but remained 20% higher than a year ago.