Supply Chain Research

A 5% drop in international airfreight handling at Seattle Tacoma airport is the first drop on a year earlier since May. There was a strong summer peak, but the airport does not appear to have benefited from extra air transport due to Hanjin Shipping’s demise. Indeed, Seattle seaport – part owned by Hanjin Shipping – experienced a 25% jump in import handling. Seaborne cargoes into the northwest increased 4% on a year earlier, but couldn’t offset the airfreight decline – the Panjiva Combined Cargo Index for the northwest fell 2% and was the worst for a September since 2013.