The July Logistics Industry Sentiment Index showed that business demand fluctuated slightly and remained in the expansion range

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the China Logistics Industry Sentiment Index for July 2026 released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing was 50.4%, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month. This month's index data fluctuated slightly, but overall it continued to expand. Looking at the field of logistics services, industrial logistics is improving, consumer logistics is stabilizing, and mass transportation is slowing down. Looking at the logistics industry, the total volume index of railway, highway, and postal express delivery services has expanded. The total multimodal transport business volume index is in a high boom range, and new intermodal transport routes, new models, and new solutions have achieved breakthroughs in various regions.

The total business volume index fluctuated, some industries expanded, and key areas progressed rapidly. The total business volume index has been in the expansion range for 3 consecutive months. The total business volume index for this month was 50.4%, down 0.2 percentage points from month to month, while the total logistics business index for the eastern region, central region, and western region fell 0.2, 0.1, and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. By sector, the total business volume index for railway transportation, road transport, postal express delivery, and multimodal transport is in the expansion range. Among them, the total business volume index in the multimodal transport sector was 54%, up 0.5 percentage points from month to month. Various regions continued to innovate multimodal transport solutions. Zhanjiang, Zhengzhou-Lianyungang, Shenzhen, Ningbo and other places have achieved further breakthroughs and accumulated experience in water transfer, railway and sea intermodal transport, single system, and data interconnection.

The industrial logistics and consumer logistics businesses are growing steadily, and the bulk energy transportation business is slowing down. Looking at the service sector, logistics businesses in industries such as transportation equipment, communication electronics, electrical machinery, and smart home appliances have been rising steadily, driving the growth of railway white goods and road vehicle business. For consumer groups such as study tours, families, and groups, various regions linked business travel and entertainment to create immersive experiential consumption scenarios, driving active cross-regional passenger flow, commercial flow, and logistics. Companies in the survey reported a month-on-month recovery in logistics orders for outdoor tourism, local specialties, and fresh products. Looking at bulk logistics, electricity and coal storage existed for more than 30 days at the end of July. The Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei crude steel production side inventories and social inventories increased 20-30% compared to the beginning of the year. As energy raw material inventories rose, bulk logistics experienced a dynamic shift, and the growth rate of the transportation sector slowed. Judging from the data, the total railway transportation industry and water transport industry business index fell 0.3 and 1 percentage point, respectively.

The index of new orders continued to rise, but demand for aviation logistics and express logistics declined at a high level. The new orders index was 50.5%, up 0.2 percentage points from month to month. It has rebounded for 5 consecutive months since this year. By region, the new orders index in the eastern region has rebounded 0.4 percentage points, while the new orders index in the central and western regions has rebounded 0.1 percentage points. By industry, the railway transportation industry, road transport industry, and multimodal transport sector new order indices rebounded 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 percentage points, respectively. At the same time, the inventory turnover index in the multimodal transport sector rebounded 0.5 percentage points month-on-month, reflecting the rapid growth in demand for intermodal transport and effective improvement in intermodal transport efficiency. However, we also need to see the occurrence of strong typhoons and strong convection in some regions this month, which had an impact on cross-regional routes, routes, and main line transportation. The new order indices for the air transport industry and the postal express industry were 54.6% and 61.4% respectively, falling 1.1 and 0.3 percentage points month-on-month on a high basis, while the new orders index for the waterway transportation industry fell 0.2 percentage points month-on-month.

The pressure on business operating costs continues, and market expectations have declined somewhat. The main business cost index is more than 52%, 5 percentage points higher than the main business profit index. By industry, the main business cost index for the air transport industry and postal express delivery industry is above 60%, and the main business cost index for the road transport industry and water transport industry rebounded 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points from month to month, respectively. Similar to the first half of the year, fuel, depreciation, and labor are the main sources of cost pressure. Market expectations have stabilized overall. The corporate fixed asset investment completion index and employee index are above 50%, and the expected business activity index is 52.8%, down 3.1 percentage points from month to month. Investments, employees and expectations are still in the expansion range.