Consumer demand drives bumper 10-month results at PACTL

The recent spike in cargo volume from September appears to be continuing in some airports. Shanghai Pudong International Airport Cargo Terminal Co., Ltd. (PACTL), handled a record 153,607 tonnes of cargo this October, driving an 8.9 percent, year-over-year, volume growth over 2015. The strong month helped increase PACTL’s tonnage handled between January and October by 3.2 percent, y-o-y, to a total of more than 1.35 million tonnes. These numbers have PACTL on course for a potentially record-breaking year.

Demand for high-value consumer goods picked up again, explained Lutz Grzegorz, vice president of PACTL, adding that there was also an uptick in demand for cool-chain products. International cargo grew by 8.7 percent, y-o-y, to a little more than 144,000 tonnes for the month. Domestic cargo volumes reached 9,480 tonnes in October, up by 12.2 percent, y-o-y.

For the first 10 months of 2016, international cargo increased by 3.3 percent, y-o-y, to nearly 1,27 million tonnes, while domestic cargo volumes rose by 2.0 percent over the same period to 86,880 tonnes.

The standout figure from the latest PACTL monthly results is a significant slowing in the growth of exports, which only rose by 1.8 percent to nearly 793,000 tonnes over the first 10 months of 2016. That said, October’s export rates were on the rise again, up 6.9 percent, y-o-y, to 91,247 tonnes.

Imports were strong on the back of demand for consumer goods, prompting Grzegorz to note that, “We managed to significantly grow our international imports and domestic exports in the last couple of months.”

Imports grew by 12.1 percent to 62,360 tonnes in October, pushing 10-month volumes up 5.3 percent, y-o-y, to more than 561,00 tonnes.