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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 – First Quarter of 2024

Release Date: 18 Jan, 2024

DHL Hong Kong Air Trade Leading Index (DTI) 

REPORT SUMMARY

Local Air Traders anticipated Q1 2024 trade outlook to be just slightly better than that of the same period in 2023.

  • Overall Air Trade Index retreated by 3.4 points from the traditional peak season last quarter.
  • 10% of local air traders stated that the outcome of the latest traditional peak season, i.e. Q4 2023, was better than their initial expectations, while 45% reported that the performance was worse than expected. The remaining 45% of respondents indicated that their actual numbers were close to their expectations.
  • 24% of local air traders expressed a positive outlook towards the pre-Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday when compared to the same period in 2023, while 36% had a negative outlook.
  • In looking towards to post-CNY period until the end of Q1 2024, local air traders were more conservative, with 20% expecting more sales orders than last year and 46% expecting a similar number of sales orders.
  • The other Asia Pacific market#, Gifts, Toys and Houseware, as well as B2C were the three key drivers of Q1 2024 sales. The rest were expected to be softer than last quarter, but most of them were at similar levels as the same period last year.


Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC, commented, “The overall air trade market remains soft in Q1 2024, with the Overall Trade Index further fell by 3.4 points to 36.0 points. All markets, except for the other Asia Pacific markets, suffered declines at different magnitudes, and the Americas is the market suffering the greatest drop of 9 points. With the business outcome in the Q4 traditional peak season of 2023 behind expectations, air traders have become conservative towards their trade outlook this quarter, especially business after the Chinese New Year. With the risk of economic downturn expected to continue for a certain period, air traders should get themselves prepared for this long-term challenge. They are also advised to explore opportunities in other markets, particularly in the other Asia Pacific region.”

#The “other Asia Pacific market” in this study refers to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region besides China and Japan, i.e. Southeast Asia (for examples, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam), India, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia, etc.

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

Download of DTI Quarterly Report

Quarter

Release Date

DTI – First Quarter of 2024 (PDF version)
DTI – First Quarter of 2024 (Text-only version)
Jan 18, 2024
DTI – Fourth Quarter of 2023 (PDF version)
DTI – Fourth Quarter of 2023 (Text-only version)
Oct 19, 2023
DTI – Third Quarter of 2023 (PDF version)
DTI – Third Quarter of 2023 (Text-only version)
Jul 20, 2023
DTI – Second Quarter of 2023 (PDF version)
DTI – Second Quarter of 2023 (Text-only version)
Apr 27, 2023
DTI – First Quarter of 2023 (PDF version)
DTI – First Quarter of 2023 (Text-only version)
Jan 17, 2023
DTI – Fourth Quarter of 2022 (PDF version)
DTI – Fourth Quarter of 2022 (Text-only version)
Oct 20, 2022
DTI – Third Quarter of 2022 (PDF version)
DTI – Third Quarter of 2022 (Text-only version)
Jul 21, 2022
DTI – Second Quarter of 2022 (PDF version)
DTI – Second Quarter of 2022 (Text-only version)
Apr 21, 2022
DTI – First Quarter of 2022 (PDF version)
DTI – First Quarter of 2022 (Text-only version)
Jan 20, 2022
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2021 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2021 (Text-only version)
Oct 20, 2021
DTI - Third Quarter of 2021 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2021 (Text-only version)
Jul 20, 2021
DTI - Second Quarter of 2021 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2021 (Text-only version)
Apr 20, 2021
DTI - First Quarter of 2021 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2021 (Text-only version)
Jan 28, 2021
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2020 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2020 (Text-only version)
Oct 22, 2020
DTI - Third Quarter of 2020 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2020 (Text-only version)
Jul 23, 2020
DTI - Second Quarter of 2020 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2020 (Text-only version)
Apr 27, 2020
DTI - First Quarter of 2020 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2020 (Text-only version)
Feb 5, 2020
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2019 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2019 (Text-only version)
Nov 4, 2019
DTI - Third Quarter of 2019 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2019 (Text-only version)
Jul 31, 2019
DTI - Second Quarter of 2019 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2019 (Text-only version)
Apr 29, 2019
DTI - First Quarter of 2019 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2019 (Text-only version)
Jan 25, 2019
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2018 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2018 (Text-only version)
Nov 6, 2018
DTI - Third Quarter of 2018 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2018 (Text-only version)
Jul 31, 2018
DTI - Second Quarter of 2018 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2018 (Text-only version)
May 2, 2018
DTI - First Quarter of 2018 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2018 (Text-only version)
Jan 31, 2018
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2017 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2017 (Text-only version)
Nov 1, 2017
DTI - Third Quarter of 2017 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2017 (Text-only version)
Jul 27, 2017
DTI - Second Quarter of 2017 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2017 (Text-only version)
Apr 28, 2017
DTI - First Quarter of 2017 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2017 (Text-only version)
Jan 25, 2017
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2016 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2016 (Text-only version)
Nov 11, 2016
DTI - Third Quarter of 2016 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2016 (Text-only version)
Aug 8, 2016
DTI - Second Quarter of 2016 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2016 (Text-only version)
May 13, 2016
DTI - First Quarter of 2016 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2016 (Text-only version)
Feb 19, 2016
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2015 (PDF version)
DTI - Fourth Quarter of 2015 (Text-only version)
Nov 16, 2015
DTI - Third Quarter of 2015 (PDF version)
DTI - Third Quarter of 2015 (Text-only version)
Aug 11, 2015
DTI - Second Quarter of 2015 (PDF version)
DTI - Second Quarter of 2015 (Text-only version)
May 7, 2015
DTI - First Quarter of 2015 (PDF version)
DTI - First Quarter of 2015 (Text-only version)
Feb 6, 2015
DTI - Final Quarter of 2014 (PDF version)
DTI - Final Quarter of 2014 (Text-only version)
Nov 12, 2014

 

Methodology

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

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 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 items and other items that 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.