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IATA confidence survey shows widespread belief a recovery is ahead THE International Air Transport Association's (IATA) quarterly survey conducted in July shows that while profit margins continued to be squeezed in the second quarter, there was some recovery in the outlook for profitability in the coming 12 months. "The sharp dip in confidence seen in the April survey was driven by expectations of further escalation in fuel prices and the demand shocks due to events in the Middle East, North Africa and Japan also dampened sentiment," it said. "While fuel prices remain high, expectations of further sharp increases have dissipated and traffic demand remains strong, helping to drive the pick up in sentiment on future profitability. The extent of improvement in reported profitability continued to moderate during the second quarter of 2011 as margins were squeezed. Almost 46 per cent of respondents reporting deteriorating profitability - up from a third in April." In June IATA revised down its forecast for 2011 industry profits to US$4 billion. It said: "The less bearish outlook on profits expressed in this July survey looks more consistent with the revised industry forecast." On the other hand, "both cargo and passenger demand continued to improve during the second quarter of 2011. Increases in passenger demand were reported by 74 per cent of respondents and 69 per cent on the cargo side of the business. Airlines expect that the current expansion of air travel and air freight markets has further to run." IATA said almost 70 per cent of respondents reported stronger cargo traffic in the last quarter, up from the 59 per cent reported in April's survey. Freight traffic was said to have been volatile in the early months of 2011, however by May the level of air freight volumes (measured by freight tonne kilometers performed) was two per cent higher than the start of the year and looks to be growing at an annualized rate of close to four per cent. "While both passenger and cargo transport businesses saw improving yield performance during the second quarter of 2011, the trend is flattening. With demand-supply conditions weakening and concerns that markets may not bear further fare/rate rises, prospects for yields over the year ahead look flat." "While the balance of responses from across the major regions indicate expansion ahead, those from the Americas are the most positive, with those in Asia slightly less so - partly a factor of the disruptive effects on supply chain shipments of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami," IATA added.
China Lowers Tariffs on 33 Commodities In June the Customs Tariff Commission of the People's Republic of China announced that, effective July 1, 2011 the tariffs on 33 commodities would be reduced or completely eliminated. The reduced rates were made in an effort to ease the country's trade imbalance and to increase imports of advanced technological equipment and raw materials, as the Chinese government had vowed to do over the next five years. Commodities whose tariffs were reduced included:
The original announcement, in Chinese, can be accessed online at:
In a Federal Register notice published July 15, 2011 the Department of Commerce (DoC) announced that the antidumping duty orders on ball bearings and parts thereof from Japan and the United Kingdom are revoked. As a result, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been instructed to discontinue the collection of cash deposits for estimated antidumping duties, effective July 16, 2011. The antidumping duty orders affected are A-588-804 and A-412-801. In its third and fourth remand decisions, and in order to comply with remand instructions from the Court of International Trade (CIT), the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determined that revocation of the subject antidumping duty orders would not be likely to lead to the continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States. That decision was affirmed by the CIT in April and, after temporary stays by the CIT and Court of Appeals for the Federal Court were lifted in the following months, the Department of Commerce issued its revocation order. The Department has also discontinued all unfinished administrative reviews and will not initiate any new reviews of the orders. The full text of the federal register notice can be accessed online at:
China earmarks more than US$21.6 billion for transport infrastructure CHINA's central government has earmarked CNY139.45 billion (US$21.6 billion) from the vehicle purchase tax to fund local transport construction, reports Xinhua. The money will be used to support construction of highways and highway hubs for cargo and passengers, river shipping and rural roads.
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