Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru circumvented the United States’ tariff policy, as they were the only Latin American countries to register growth in air cargo traffic to the United States last June.
Meanwhile, Colombia, Brazil and Chile saw a decrease in freight transport , reported the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) .
“In such a challenging global environment, the overall growth of air cargo transport in the region demonstrates its essential role and the potential our countries still have. However, the 9% drop in flows with the United States, the region’s main trading partner, underscores the importance of anticipating trends, adjusting capacities, and maintaining the flexibility necessary to respond to sudden changes in demand,” said Peter Cerdá, CEO of ALTA.
Among the markets with the greatest growth during the sixth month of the year, Ecuador stood out with a 21.8% increase, and Argentina with 18.3%. “In Ecuador’s case, the rebound was supported by the increase in traffic with the United States, which exceeded 9,300 tons, a 32.4% year-over-year increase.”
Among this increase was the boost in rose exports, which surpassed four tons in June, representing a year-over-year increase of more than 22 percent.
International freight transport to and from Colombia grew 2.8% in the sixth month of the year. The Colombia-United States corridor, which handles the largest volume of freight in the entire region with more than 25,000 tons per month (mostly perishables exported from Colombia), registered a 4.2% drop .
However, increased volumes with Spain, the Netherlands, and Ecuador offset the decline and resulted in a positive net result.
Mexico, for its part, was one of the few markets, along with Ecuador and Peru, that managed to increase its cargo exchange with the United States . In June, US-Mexico flows grew by 15% and Mexico-US flows by 20%, driving a 5.6% increase in total tons transported to and from the country.
Meanwhile, Brazil recorded a 5.8% drop in transported volume during June. The decrease was primarily due to a 10% contraction in the United States-Brazil flow, and a 6.9% drop in Brazil-United States flow.
In air imports from the United States, the category with the greatest decline was telecommunications and sound recording equipment, down 20 percent. In exports to that market, the largest reduction was seen in leather goods, down 47 percent.
Chile recorded a 9.8% decrease, also attributed to lower activity in Chile-United States flows , which fell 18.3%, and United States-Chile flows, which fell 13.6%. “International volume to and from Chile has seen seven consecutive months of decline, and in the January-June period, it fell 12.3%.”
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