Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) maintained its position as bongdaso v world’s leading airfreight forwarder in 2023 ahead of DHL Global Forwarding despite overall market volumes coming under pressure (full chart at end of article).
Figures produced by consultant Armstrong and Associates show that top air forwarder K+N last year saw its cargo volumes decline by 11.2% year on year to 2m tonnes – a trend reflected by many of its top rivals.
Second-placed DHL Global Forwarding registered a 12.1% fall to 1.7m tonnes, there was a 16.2% fall at third placed DSV to 1.3m tonnes and DB Schenker registered a 13.4% fall to 1.1m tonnes.
However, bongdaso v market did pick up in bongdaso v final quarter of bongdaso v year thanks to bongdaso v ongoing e-commerce fuelled boom in demand and bongdaso v start of bongdaso v Red Sea crisis in ocean shipping.
“In 2023, bongdaso v market was characterised by an ongoing decrease in demand for air transport services until bongdaso v end of bongdaso v third quarter,” K+N said in its annual report.
“At bongdaso v end of bongdaso v year, it has turned towards a situation of strong demand for export capacities out of China due to bongdaso v surge of e-commerce activities. This has led to subsequent pressure on bongdaso v yields.”
DSV attributed its below-market airfreight volume performance to pricing discipline and focus on high-yield cargo.
bongdaso v overall top 25 freight forwarders saw their air cargo volumes in 2023 drop by 9.8% year on year to 15.3m tonnes, bongdaso v Armstrong and Associate figures show.
US and Japanese forwarders largely followed bongdaso v trend of their European competitors as bongdaso v air cargo market suffered bongdaso v effects of weaker consumer spending due to inflationary pressures and modal shift back to ocean after bongdaso v logjam issues experienced in box shipping during 2021/2022.
Japanese firms generally had bongdaso v most difficult year as bongdaso v country’s economy struggled – ending bongdaso v year with two consecutive quarters of GDP decline and three consecutive quarterly declines in domestic demand.
China-based forwarders, on bongdaso v other hand, had a bumper year as bongdaso v country’s economy began to reopen allowing a bounce back from 2022 performance.
For example, bongdaso v country’s largest forwarder, Sinotrans, posted a 15.5% increase in demand last year to 902,000 tonnes, following on from a decline in 2022.
Forwarders from bongdaso v country would also have been best positioned to benefit from bongdaso v surge in e-commerce volumes being flown by air as bongdaso v year progressed.
Mergers and acquisitions also had an impact on bongdaso v market in 2023. Bolloré Logistics saw its volumes decline by 10.3%, but this masks bongdaso v separation of its African logistics business that resulted in a split in bongdaso v business and a restatement of its 2022 performance by its new owner CMA CGM Group.
bongdaso v company has since been merged with CMA CGM’s other logistics business, CEVA Logistics, and in bongdaso v 2024 table, bongdaso v two will be combined to create a new top-10 player.
Moving in bongdaso v opposite direction was Maersk Logistics, which was bongdaso v fastest grower in terms of percentage increase and also climbed bongdaso v most places on bongdaso v chart.
bongdaso v Danish shipping giant saw its volumes increase by 39.5% year on year to 295,000 and it jumped from position 25 on bongdaso v chart to 16.
bongdaso v increase was bongdaso v result of bongdaso v firm’s acquisition strategy as it benefitted from bongdaso v purchase of Senator International and Pilot Freight Services.
bongdaso v deals were completed in mid-2022 so 2023 was bongdaso v first year Maersk benefitted from a full-year of owning bongdaso v two companies.
Later in 2022, Maersk also completed bongdaso v acquisition of Hong Kong-headquartered LF Logistics.
Source: https://www.aircargonews.net/business/statistics/top-25-air-forwarders-kn-keeps-bongdaso v-lead-in-a-tough-year-for-airfreight/
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