STUDY: INTEGRATED CARRIERS TIGHTEN GRIP ON U.S. AIR EXPORTS

STUDY: INTEGRATED CARRIERS TIGHTEN GRIP ON U.S. AIR EXPORTS    Integrated air carriers continue to wrestle the U.S. air export market away from non-integrated carriers, according to an annual study on international air cargo trends conducted by the Colography Group.
   The study found that integrated carriers, led by FedEx, UPS, BAX Global, DHL, Emery and Airborne, controlled 51.5 percent of air export revenue, 36.0 percent of air export tonnage and 69.9 percent of air export shipments, all increases from 1999 levels.
   Non-integrated carriers, however, saw their air export revenue fall 1.1 percent and their tonnage slide 1.8 percent from 1999.
   FedEx, the air export market leader with a 37.5 percent share, saw its air exports shipments grow 12 percent from 1999. UPS, which held 12.5 percent of the market, saw air export traffic grow 8.5 percent. DHL was third, with a 12.2-percent market share.
   The integrators' growth comes from the companies extending their brands into foreign markets, and export trends moving towards “smaller lots sizes at lighter weights and tighter delivery windows,” which favor the integrators, said Ted Scherck, president of the Colography Group.
   Scherck noted that the integrators' revenue growth outpaced tonnage growth, due largely to the impact of carrier-levied fuel surcharges. “In real terms, yields were at best flat, if not slightly down,” he said.
   In 2000, 91.4 million shipments were exported by air, up 5.6 percent from 1999. Air export tonnage grew only 0.9 percent, as the strong U.S. dollar offset improving Asian markets and stability in Europe.
   China was the fastest-growing market for U.S. air exports, up 28.1 percent, followed by South Korea with a 27.3-percent increase. Six of the 10 fastest growing U.S. export destinations were in Asia.