JOC Staff | Sep 19, 2011 2:18PM EDT
Korean Air says a sharp drop in electronics exports out of South Korea sent the airline’s cargo traffic down 8.4 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year ago.
Outbound air cargo from Korea fell 30 percent in the quarter, Korean Air said, including a 71 percent plunge in computer display terminals and an 11 percent drop in cell phones.
The decline was partly offset by strong gains out of Japan, which was up 13 percent, and Europe, up 12 percent. But Korean Air gets as much as 38 percent of its shipment revenue from its home market, and demand for high-value goods has been falling with the weaker global economy.
South Korea’s government said last week the country¹s exports grew 25.9 percent in August from a year ago, but the biggest growth came in ocean trade, with vessel exports including petroleum products up 80 percent by volume.
Air exports haven’t been as strong, and Korean Air cut its capacity 6.1 percent in the second quarter from the same period last year. That helped Korean Air improve its yield 4 percent from a year ago, and 9.8 percent from the first quarter to the second quarter.
