Reported 8 months ago
The hot demand for AI has led to a surge in air freight rates, with most shipments currently being large AI servers. Routes from Taiwan to Europe and the US have seen a sharp increase in freight rates this week. The high unit prices of AI servers, PCs, and smartphones have prompted major tech companies to ship before the end of June at higher shipping costs, driving up freight rates to over $9 per kilogram on transpacific routes, nearing the 300 NTD mark. The volume of cross-border e-commerce shipments from mainland China continues to increase, coupled with concerns about rising freight costs and tight cargo space, leading to early shipments and pushing up freight rates, making the second quarter of this year more noticeable in terms of price hikes. Optimistically estimating an early peak in the air freight peak season. Several freight forwarders have provided cargo freight quotes from China Airlines and EVA Air this week, with freight rates flying from Taiwan to the US West Coast rising to around 250-265 NTD per kilogram (including fuel surcharges), flying to the US East Coast rising to around 265-290 NTD per kilogram, and flying to Europe rising to around 170-180 NTD per kilogram. For air cargo transportation, the main push comes from e-commerce freight, with freight rates being driven by semiconductor machinery, AI chips, and servers, along with corporate production lines moving from China to Southeast Asia to boost trading volumes in the Asian market, with a more significant growth estimated for the third quarter. This year is seen as the year of AI, with most shipments currently being large AI servers and focusing on major companies such as Quanta, Wistron, ASUS, and Gigabyte, benefiting from the active infrastructure construction by hyper-scale data center customers. With Taiwan's AI supply chain in motion, the future of air freight is promising. According to estimates by The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), approximately 20% of global transactions currently come from e-commerce, with the proportion in the transpacific region reaching as high as 60-70%. Mainland China's four small dragons, including Pinduoduo's Temu, SHEIN, Alibaba's AliExpress, and TikTok shop, have already announced an increase in third-quarter shipments, opening up new markets. It is noteworthy that to avoid the possibility of imposing high anti-dumping import tariffs by the US and Europe before the end of the year, the volume of sea freight exports of electronic commerce, electric vehicles, and renewable energy-related goods from mainland China has significantly increased since May, with freight forwarding companies believing that with the approaching tariff imposition date in July and August, concerns about not having enough sea freight might lead to an increase in air freight, bringing forward the air freight peak season to June and July. More rePorts from the Business Times on the US economic restart, Nike's financials exceeding expectations, Taiwan's first domestically-produced hybrid car price reductions, and the environmental lawsuit regarding the Taichung copper drum yard area being approved.
Source: YAHOO