Quote
Aperture & Focus 2026: Week 8
Feb. 19, 2026
Aperture & Focus
Global Aperture
Global airfreight volumes reached record levels in 2025, according to a February 14th report from The International Air Transport Association (IATA), rising 3.4% year over year as e-commerce and industrial shipments continued to drive activity. Asia-Pacific led growth at 8.4% while North America declined 1.3%, underscoring shifting trade lanes and the sector’s continued importance to time-sensitive and high-value supply chains heading into 2026.
The ocean container market enters 2026 with vessel fleet growth of 3.2 percent exceeding projected global port handling growth of 1.5 percent, creating sustained excess capacity across major trade lanes. A potential return to Suez Canal route could further increase available space by shortening transit times while carriers continue to manage supply through blank sailing.
Container shipping capacity remains constrained with 136 blanked sailings in February 2026 across the transpacific, Asia–Europe and transatlantic trades amid the Lunar New Year slowdown and ongoing port congestion. Schedule reliability fell to 62.8% in December, with Northern European gateways such as Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam reporting berth delays of three to five days.
Regional Focus
Americas
Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia accounted for approximately 60% of the region’s air cargo traffic in 2025, with more than 60% of volumes moving outbound. Mexico also recorded an 8% increase in imports from the United States beginning in January 2025, highlighting its growing role in North American supply chains even as fleet expansion remains constrained heading into 2026.
United States: On February 13th, The White House published its Maritime Action Plan, outlining a proposed universal port fee of $0.01 to $0.25 per kilogram on imported cargo moved by foreign-built vessels. The plan, which stems from an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in April of last year, directs potential revenue toward shipbuilding, fleet expansion, and maritime workforce development. Even at one cent per kilogram, the fee would materially raise costs for containerized goods, crude oil, refined products, and vehicle imports.
The Port of Los Angeles handled 812,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) in January 2026, down 12 percent year over year. Loaded imports declined 13 percent to 421,594 twenty-foot equivalent units, exports fell 8 percent to 104,297 twenty-foot equivalent units, and empty containers dropped 12 percent. One bright spot, however, is that purchase orders to Asia remain steady and consumer demand has shown resilience, signaling potential stability in the months ahead despite the slowdown and continued uncertainty around U.S. trade policy.
Asia-Pacific
India: Truck congestion has increased at India’s Nhava Sheva Port following the introduction of a new truck scheduling system at the Gateway Terminals India (GTI) facility operated by APM Terminals. Drivers are reporting longer turnaround times and extended queues at terminal gates. Transport associations say the changes have disrupted container pickups and deliveries and are urging port authorities to refine the system and improve coordination to ease landside bottlenecks at the country’s busiest container gateway.
Taiwan: Taiwan and the United States signed a trade agreement on February 12th that lowers tariffs on Taiwanese exports to 15 percent. Taiwan will remove or reduce 99 percent of tariff barriers on United States goods and grant preferential market access for industrial and agricultural products.
Europe, Middle East & Africa
Figures from Airports Council International Europe show cargo volumes at European airports rose 3.2 percent year on year in 2025. Frankfurt Airport reclaiming the top spot after volumes increased 2 percent to 2,193,599.51 US tons, driven by strong e-commerce demand and record imports from China.
A February 18th report from the European Environment Agency found that aviation accounted for 13.1% of all transport emissions in 2023—more than double 1990 levels—with total climate impact potentially two to four times higher when including contrails and nitrogen oxides. Under the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative, sustainable aviation fuel must reach 2% by 2025 and 70% by 2050, though regulators warn faster adoption and innovation will be necessary to align the sector with Europe’s climate targets.