DHL Hong Kong Air Trade Leading Index (DTI)

DHL Hong Kong Air Trade Leading Index ("DTI") is a quarterly survey implemented by the Hong Kong Productivity Council ("HKPC"), and commissioned by DHL Express (Hong Kong) Limited ("DHL").

DTI is the first-of-its-kind in Hong Kong, offering publicly available market intelligence for local enterprises, especially SMEs which typically have limited resources or access to information, enabling all to take reference from a comprehensive business review of the sector in which they operate.

The Overall Index represents the air trade market outlook for the surveying quarter, in respect of import and (re-)export. The research also studies the underlying trends in business attributes, markets and air-freighted commodities, thus assisting local enterprises in arriving at a primed view of the business outlook of their markets.

DTI - Third Quarter of 2020

Release Date: Jul 23, 2020

REPORT SUMMARY

According to the phone interviews conducted at early June, many markets are still carrying out different levels of lockdown, Air Traders expected trading in Q3 to be maintained at similar level as Q2.

• Since COVID-19 became a global pandemic, 60% of Air Traders reported loss with 58% of them reflecting their operation fare worse than the previous quarter.
• As many markets are still implementing social-distancing policy, brick & mortar stores have remained close. Falling consumption demand continues to impose pressure on Air Exporters.
• Due to reduction in passenger flights leading to continuous tightness in air freight capacity, market tightness has led to higher Air Freight costs, about half of the Air traders have opted to let end customers absorb most of the additional cost.
• With crisis also comes opportunity. Over one-third of the respondents expected growth in online retail business, especially in the European and Asia Pacific markets, with 60% of them expecting the current momentum to continue.

Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), shared, "Despite a minor rebound in air trade outlook for Q3, it is still premature to suggest a full-scale recovery to be just around the corner. The air freight market has remained sluggish as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to contract physical consumption in some of the air traders’ major markets. Also, the re-escalation of China-US tensions is fuelling the uncertainties. To address the situation, more local air traders are using various distance business solutions to continue their business and service with some reporting growth in online retail business. Amid this difficult period, HKPC is committed to offer prompt and timely support to local enterprises to overcome adversity and gear themselves up for new business opportunities."

Download the latest report of DTI (PDF version) (Text-only version).

Download of DTI Quarterly Report

Methodology

Index Calculation: Index = [100 x (Percentage of samples responding "Positive") ] + [50 x (Percentage of samples responding "Neutral") ] + [0 x (Percentage of samples responding "Negative") ]

Readings

• Ratios of collected responses are used to form the indices.
• An index value above 50 indicates an overall positive outlook while a reading below 50 represents an overall negative outlook for the surveyed quarter.
• The further the reading is from 50, the more positive or negative the outlook is.

Demographics

• Respondents are Hong Kong-based companies associated with either inbound or outbound air trade. It includes Watches, Clocks & Jewellery, Apparel & Clothing Accessories, Electronic Products & parts, Gifts, Toys & Houseware, Food & Beverage and Others (including courier service and other items which do not belong to the categories listed above).
• Over 600 samples are collected in each quarter.
• Sample companies are randomly selected from publicly available directories.

Disclaimer

This report contains survey result based on research findings.  HKPC will not be liable for any loss, mistake, delay, action or non-action by viewers of this report.

Enquiry

For more details about the Index, please contact HKPC at tel. (852) 2788 5306.