Average global air cargo rates fell for the second consecutive week at the start of July 2026, also helped by lower oil prices, according to weekly data released by WorldAcd Market Data for week 27, from 29 June to 5 July 2026. The global average rate slipped 1 percent week on week to $3.13 per kilo, after falling 2 percent the previous week, based on a mix of contract and spot rates.
Over the same period, global volumes fell by 2 percent from the previous week, after a 1 percent decline the week before. The main factor was the Independence Day holiday in the United States, which caused North American volumes to drop by 10 percent, followed by a 7 percent fall in Central and South America (CSA), a region also affected by celebrations in its northern neighbour. The 2 percent weekly contraction in global volumes was nevertheless comparable with the 3 percent decline recorded in the same week last year. Total chargeable weight remained 4 percent higher year on year, driven by an 8 percent increase from Asia Pacific origins, calculated on more than 500,000 weekly transactions monitored by WorldAcd.
Average global spot rates fell by 2 percent to $3.62 per kilo in week 27, with declines of 4 percent from Europe and North America and falls of 2 percent from Asia Pacific, where the rate stood at $5.03 per kilo, and from Central and South America. Year on year, however, spot rates remain 37 percent higher globally, with increases of 46 percent from the Middle East and South Asia (MESA) and from North America, 42 percent from Africa and 37 percent from Asia Pacific.
On Asian routes, Hong Kong-Europe recorded a 12 percent collapse in weekly volumes, the third consecutive decline after falls of 7 percent and 2 percent in the previous two weeks. The explanation lies in the end, on 1 July, of the European Union’s "de minimis" customs exemption for goods worth less than €150, which had supported e-commerce traffic on this route. Hong Kong-Europe volumes have therefore returned to late-March levels. China-Europe, by contrast, remained stable in week 27, after falling 6 percent the previous week, while overall Asia Pacific-Europe volumes lost 2 percent in week 27 and 4 percent in the previous week, with spot rates falling by a similar margin to $5.09 per kilo.
The Taiwan-Europe route followed a different trend, with volumes rising by around 20 percent over the past three weeks, an increase linked to transfers of IT equipment connected to artificial intelligence, according to WorldAcd. Over the same period, Taiwan-US volumes fell by around 5 percent, while the Hong Kong-US route lost around 7 percent overall, a contraction still far from the roughly 20 percent collapse recorded in Hong Kong-Europe traffic over the same period. On the pricing side, average Asia Pacific-US spot rates fell for the second consecutive week, down 3 percent to $6.83 per kilo. Spot rates from China and Hong Kong to the United States have fallen by around 12 percent overall in the past two weeks.
A.M.B.
