Air Freight Rates Rise Amid Red Sea Crisis

An employee checks freight at a ramp of Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
An employee checks freight at a ramp of Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Air Freight Rates Rise Amid Red Sea Crisis

An employee checks freight at a ramp of Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
An employee checks freight at a ramp of Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Global air freight rates have climbed for the first time in seven weeks as attacks on Red Sea shipping prompt companies to secure costlier air cargo space.

The Baltic Air Freight Index, which shows general cargo weekly transactional rates across a number of routes, rose 6.4% in the week to Monday, price reporting agency TAC Index said, reversing declines since a mid-December seasonal peak.

Attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group on vessels in the Red Sea, launched to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, have forced shippers to take longer routes that can add weeks to delivery times, Reuters reported.

"The increase is in line with expectations that rates may spike following disruption to ocean shipping in the Red Sea, though sources also point out that rates often rise in the run-up to Chinese New Year," TAC Index said.

Many factories in China close for the 8-day holiday which begins this year on Feb. 10 and companies push to get stock out to customers ahead of this.

Air freight rates out of Shanghai rose 8.8% week on week on Monday, led by big increases to Europe. Rates out of Hong Kong gained 5.9% and rates out of Southeast Asia jumped 10%.

The Red Sea, which leads to the Suez canal, lies on the key east-west trade route from Asia's manufacturing hubs to Europe and then on to the east coast of the Americas.

In recent weeks freight companies have been securing more air cargo space and some customers have begun shipping goods wholly or partially by air to avoid delays.

However air freight prices had remained relatively stable as the shipping crisis coincided with a post-Christmas lull in demand.



Egypt Targets 10 mln Ton Wheat Harvest

A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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Egypt Targets 10 mln Ton Wheat Harvest

A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
A farmer shows wheat plants at a field in Al Fayoum Governorate, southwest of Cairo, Egypt March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

Egypt expects to harvest 10 million tonnes of wheat this year, up from 9 million in 2023, driven by improved crop yields and ambitious land reclamation efforts, Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk told Reuters late on Wednesday.

He said 3.1175 million feddans (about 1.30 million hectares) have been cultivated this season — slightly lower than the 3.5 million feddans announced earlier by the planning ministry and 3.2 million feddans in 2024 (1.34 million hectares), suggesting a possible decline in total wheat area.

Farmers have told Reuters that wheat has become less profitable compared to crops like beet, whose area increased from 500,000 feddans (210,000 hectares) to 700,000 feddans (294,000 hectares) this year.

The government plans to buy 4-5 million tonnes of local wheat and import about 6 million tonnes to provide heavily subsidised bread for over 69 million Egyptians.

Farouk said newer high-yield wheat strains developed by the Agricultural Research Center have raised productivity by 7-8.5%.

"This is vertical expansion, and horizontal expansion is coming," he said.

That horizontal expansion is led by the Mostakbal Misr for Sustainable Development, which plans to reclaim 4 million feddans across the country.

Farouk said some of that land is ready for production and the rest will follow in the next two years, offering major opportunities for agricultural investment.

Mostakbal Misr, recently tasked with wheat imports, is also developing infrastructure and growing crops tailored to local consumption, exports and agri-processing, Farouk said..

Farouk added the government is studying a potential rise in local fertilizer prices. Urea and nitrate fertilizers cost around 9,500 Egyptian pounds ($185) per tonne to produce but are sold at a subsidized 4,500 ($87.63). Export prices reach up to 20,000 pounds ($389.48), Farouk said.