São Paulo – In 2012, the air cargo transport sector suffered “deceleration” mainly due to the lower imports of Europe and to the reduction in purchases by China. But, according to the senior vice presidents at Emirates SkyCargo, Ram Menen, Africa was the only continent in which volumes continue on the rise. Menen, who is participating in the Intermoadal logistics fair, in São Paulo this week, said that South America has also not escaped deceleration, but that it should end the 2013 fiscal year with better results than in 2012.
“The market has been very volatile over the last seven or eight months. In 2012 the global market was retracted, the volume dropped. Europe did not import as much, but it maintained exports. China had very slow performance. Africa was the only market that grew and continues growing. Latin America started the year (of 2012) well, but has been losing strength since October,” said Menen to ANBA.
The Emirates Sky Cargo forecast is that, despite the weak performance observed by Menen, the 2013 fiscal year should be better than the 2012 year. In Emirates group, the fiscal year is runs from April 1st of one year to March 31st of the next.
According to the Emirates SkyCargo export manager for South America, Dener Souza, the forecast is that this year the company should have a throughput of between 28,000 and 30,000 tonnes in the region. In 2012, the throughput was approximately 28,000. “In March, soon after Carnival, we had already noticed a reaction of the (local) market,” he said.
Emirates SkyCargo has been operating in Brazil since November 2010, when it inaugurated weekly flights to Viracopos airport, in Campinas, in the interior of the state of São Paulo. Currently, the company flies a Boeing 777F to Viracopos three times a week, with cargo transport capacity of 103 tonnes. The company also operates on the daily commercial flights that Emirates Airline operates between Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo and Dubai, flying the Boeing 777-300ER.
*Translated by Mark Ament
