Cathay Pacific Airways said that its cargo throughput in July fell 11 percent from the same month a year earlier, the fourth consecutive month of contraction, on continued weak demand in Hong Kong and mainland China.

Cathay is the world's largest air cargo carrier and its cargo flow is a good indicator of South China and Hong Kong's export growth.

It moved a total of 140,050 tons of cargo and mail in July, dragging the load factor down 9.4 percentage points to 66.6 percent as capacity increased 4.2 percent last month, the airline said in a statement.

"There was no real change from the previous month's market situation, with weak demand continuing out of both Hong Kong and Mainland China," Cathay's general manager cargo sales & marketing James Woodrow said in the statement.

"We expect the markets to remain soft through to mid-September," he said.

For the year to July, Cathay's cargo traffic dropped 5.2 percent while passengers carried increased 1.7 percent.

High fuel costs, an uncertain outlook of the global economy and continuing cargo softness have slashed the share value of Cathay, the dominant air carrier of Hong Kong, by more than a quarter this year. (Reuters)