Temu and Shein reportedly responsible for 88 flights of cargo planes per day

Chinese e-tailers Temu and Shein are popular. So popular that shipping purchased items takes in 88 flights on Boeing cargo planes per day, according to research by Forbes. This has resulted in the price of shipping via aeroplane rising.

Both Temu and Shein operate a business model through which products from unknown Chinese companies are shipped directly to the end customer, typically via flight. According to calculations by Forbes, around 9,000 tonnes of cargo is shipped every day by Temu and Shein, meaning around 88 Boeing 777 cargo planes are completely full. Forbes noted that this is equivalent to Amazon’s Prime Air fleet of planes – the company has around 86.

The price of air cargo is now around 4.75 dollars per kilogram, according to cargo pricing analysis company Xeneta. That is not nearly as high as during pandemic years 2020 and 2021, when the price was between 10 and 12 dollars per kilogram. So while prices are not that high, analysts at Xeneta do point to Temu and Shein as the reason behind the recent rise.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.NL. Translation and edit by: Rachel Douglass.