Holiday season goods and desperate shippers
Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics chairman Paul Tsui said available air freight space to the U.S. had reached critical levels and costs “have jumped through the roof.”
“It looks like the situation in Los Angeles is not going to be resolved quickly, and I can see demand being strong until the third or fourth week of December,” he told JOC.com. He warned that the situation could “further deteriorate.”
Carriers and terminals have been battling congestion in Los Angeles and Long Beach all year, but conditions have worsened in the peak-season months. The delays are impacting holiday season goods and desperate shippers are looking to the skies.
Li Wenjun, head of air freight, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific, said the integrator was trying to minimise delays for its ocean freight customers and had secured additional air freight capacity on all major trade lanes into the U.S., including from China and Hong Kong.
“We expect air freight volumes to grow as more shipments are being diverted from ocean freight due to U.S. port congestion and delays,” he told JOC.com.
“Currently, DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific has already received a number of requests from customers seeking air chartering solutions for sea freight-converted goods into the U.S.”