Source: Internet  

Despite overall market pressures, Kuehne+Nagel continued to maintain its position as the leading global air freight forwarder in 2023, ahead of DHL Global Forwarding.  

According to data provided by Armstrong and Associates, the top air freight company Kuehne+Nagel saw its cargo volume drop by 11.2% year-on-year to 2 million tons last year—a trend reflected by many of its top competitors.  

Ranked second, DHL Global Forwarding experienced a 12.1% decline to 1.7 million tons, while DSV, ranked third, saw a 16.2% decrease to 1.3 million tons, and DB Schenker's volume fell by 13.4% to 1.1 million tons.

However, driven by the continuous demand growth in e-commerce and the onset of the ocean freight crisis in the Red Sea, the market did see a recovery in the last quarter of the previous year.  

In its annual report, Kuehne+Nagel stated: "2023 was characterized by a continuous decline in demand for air transport services until the end of the third quarter. At the end of the year, due to a surge in e-commerce activities, China's demand for export capacity turned strong. This subsequently led to pressure on yields."

DSV attributed its below-market air freight performance to pricing principles and a focus on high-yield cargo.  

According to Armstrong and Associates, air freight volumes of the top 25 freight forwarders decreased by 9.8% year-on-year to 15.3 million tons in 2023.

Following congestion issues in container shipping in 2021/2022, the air freight market suffered from inflationary pressures and a modal shift to ocean shipping, which led to weak consumer spending. Freight forwarders in the US and Japan largely followed the trend of their European counterparts.

Japanese companies generally experienced the most challenging year as the country's economy struggled—GDP declined for two consecutive quarters at the end of the year, and domestic demand fell for three consecutive quarters.

On the other hand, Chinese freight companies had a strong year in 2023 as China's economy began to recover. For example, the demand for China National Foreign Trade Transportation Group, China's largest freight company, grew by 15.5% last year to 902,000 tons, following a decline in 2022. Chinese express companies were also among the most likely to benefit from the surge in air freight volumes this year.

Mergers and acquisitions also impacted the market in 2023. Bolloré Logistics saw a 10.3% decrease in volumes, which concealed the separation of its African logistics business, leading to the spin-off and restatement of its 2022 performance by its new owner, CMA CGM Group.  

The company subsequently merged with another CMA CGM-owned logistics enterprise, CEVA Logistics, and in the 2024 rankings, the two companies will be combined, creating a new top ten entity.  

In contrast, Maersk Logistics experienced the fastest percentage growth and the largest ranking increase. The Danish shipping giant saw its volumes grow by 39.5% year-on-year to 295,000 units, jumping from 25th to 16th on the list.  

This growth was driven by the company's acquisition strategy.

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Public Account: Cross-Border E-commerce Logistics Baixiaosheng