BAROMETER. Road transport prices rose slightly in April month-on-month, in a difficult market. The situation of carriers is very variable, depending on their size and bargaining power.
During the month of April, the social crisis continued to express itself in France in the form of strikes, demonstrations and other noisy pots and pans protests. After recording its strongest expansion in ten months in March, French economic activity faltered in April. The S&P Global Agency Composite Flash Index, which measures private sector activity, was 52.4 in April, down from 53.8 in March.
The contraction is confirmed in the manufacturing sector. According to S&P Global, “the production volumes fell at the steepest rate since May 2020”, due to the sharp deterioration in demand. On the other hand, services drove the economy as their index progressed from 53.9 in March to 54.6 in April.
French road freight transport up slightly
During this period, according to preliminary data from Upply [1], road transport prices increased by 0.4%, which is a modest but significant increase in a depressed French market: according to the latest quarterly survey on road freight transport conditions published by the FNTR, 51% of business leaders were dissatisfied with the situation of their company in the first quarter of 2023, against 42% in the previous quarter.
Source: Upply Freight Index – Road France
In April, the average transport price in France was €1.609 per kilometre driven. As such the index gains 0.008 euros per kilometre compared to the previous month. The increase is still minor, but it is surprising because no inflation factor was present in the market (...)
[1]Index calculated from April's data recorded in our database as of May 5, 2023. Our price estimates are based on actual transactions. The monthly index may be subject to future revisions as new data for the relevant period become available. It is therefore to be interpreted with caution.
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