The Freight Buyers' Club

In this special News Insight episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, host Mike King discusses the following with Robert Subbaraman, Head of Global Markets Research at Nomura: Global economic and trade prospects in 2024 Asia exports outlook Geopolitical risk in 2024 The slowdown in China Freight rates and inflation Trade and a Trump Presidency Protectionism vs global growth China + 1 impact on trade  

In this episode, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King has an in-depth discussion with Bjorn Vang Jensen, Executive Director for International Transport at American multinational Cummins, on all things shipping and supply chain. They discuss what the Gemini Cooperation agreement between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk means for the remaining THE Alliance container lines – Yang...

In this clip from EP14 of The Freight Buyers' Club podcast, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King hears that the threat of union action at US east and Gulf coast ports later this year is already prompting retailers to route cargo via west coast terminals. Mike is talking to: Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, Journal of Commerce Jon Gold, VP for Supply Chain and Customs...

In this special new insight episode, host Mike King and Brendan Sullivan, Global Head, Cargo, International Air Transport Association (IATA), discuss if air cargo is ready to fill supply chain shortages emerging as a result of the Red Sea shipping crisis. They also look at the performance of the air freight industry last year, what 2024 has in store for the sector, SAF uptake, and what operators c...

In this clip from EP14 of The Freight Buyers' Club podcast, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King asks who will foot the bill as a combination of factors including diversions away from the Suez Canal impact global supply chains and trade. Mike is talking to: Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, Journal of Commerce Jon Gold, VP for Supply Chain and Customs Policy, National...

In this episode, host Mike King and guests examine the multiple challenges facing international trade in the early days of 2024 as supply chain disruptions mount and container shipping freight rates soar. The prime cause of these disruptions is attacks on container shipping services by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. These are prompting carriers to divert vessels away from Bab-el-Mandeb, the strait...

In this special news insight episode, Mike King is joined by Alvin Fuh, shipping veteran and current Special Assistant to Chief Executive Officer at Dimerco Express Group, for an update on the Red Sea/Suez Canal shipping crisis. They also explore shipper options as transit times increase and Asia-Europe ocean shipping freight rates soar.

In this episode of the Freight Buyers’ Club, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, the big freight, economic and shipping stories of 2023 are put under the microscope when host Mike King speaks to Paul Berger, The Wall Street Journal’s Logistics & Supply Chain Reporter. The implications of the Yellow and Convoy bankruptcies are examined. Mike and Paul also discuss shipper risk an...

In this episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, produced in partnership with Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King has an exclusive interview with Bronson Hsieh, former chairman of both Evergreen and Yang Ming container lines. They discuss future container shipping demand and supply, what this means for freight buyers and why everyone in the business of ocean supply chains should understand how new E...

In this episode of The Freight Buyer’s Club, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King looks at global and US air cargo markets. What has happened to peak season is the key question examined, but Mike and his guests also discuss inventory levels, global demand and economics, what the decarbonisation of supply chains means for air freight, SAF availability forecasts, and th...

In this pilot episode of Freight Expectations, a Freight Buyers' Club podcast which will be launched in 2024, host Mike King speaks to one of the world’s foremost authors and thought leaders on logistics technology and the future of supply chains. Professor Yossi Sheffi is the current Director of the Center for Transportation & Logistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the a...

In this episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King looks at the current global freight market, the US demand outlook, and examines why the container peak season failed to materialise. Mike and his guests then deep dive into India’s growing attraction as a global manufacturing hub as OEMs diversify away from China. His guests explain that...

In part 1 of this episode, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King interviews one of the world’s leading economic and transport analysts: Paul Bingham, Director of Supply Chain Transportation Consulting, S&P Global Market Intelligence. They swing between freight markets and economic forecasts as they discuss Paul’s view that transport markets across modes are sufferi...

In this episode host and producer Mike King explores the implications of the tentative west coast docker contract deal, the likely impact of lower water levels on the Panama Canal, retailer inventory stocks, whether there will be a shipping peak season in 2023, and just what container lines will do with the huge number of newbuilding vessels due for delivery over the next 18 months. Guests Jessica...

In part 1 of this episode, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host and producer Mike King speaks to Lee Klaskow, Senior Freight and Transportation Logistics Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence. He hears that while the US is likely heading in to a recession, this does not automatically mean the death of peak season. They also discuss M&A activity, restocking and destocking, and wha...

In Part 1 of this episode, host and editor Mike King speaks to two of the world’s most renowned air freight experts: Cathy Roberson, President, Logistics Trends & Insights LLC, and Brandon Fried, Executive Director, Airforwarders Association. Among other topics, they discuss: what next for air freight; the challenges facing integrators’; security regime alignment; US infrastructure; and labour...

In Part 1 of this episode. host and editor Mike King speaks to two freight and trade experts: Judah Levine, Head of Research at Freightos, and Jason Miller, US government advisor and Interim Chairperson, Department of Supply Chain Management, Michigan State University, Eli Broad College of Business. They discuss US trade policies, inventory levels, freight rate movements and the very significant d...

In part 2 of his interview with Bronson Hsieh, former chairman of both Evergreen Shipping and Yang Ming Shipping, host Mike King explores the implications of the Covid-era and the challenges facing container lines in the years ahead. Episode in more detail:   Conclusions from the Covid years (1.00) Liner-shipper relations (5.50) Will we see a rates war in 2023? (8.45) Evolving alliances (12.20) Ca...

In this episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club host Mike King gets a very rare and exclusive interview with one of the true titans of container shipping: Bronson Hsieh. Over a 45-year career, he has been chairman of not one, but two of the world’s biggest shipping lines – Evergreen and Yang Ming. In fact, he was vice president of Evergreen Group and chairman of Evergreen Shipping. And he was the Chai...

Wondering what happens next to box shipping rates, alliances and carrier-shipper relations?  Need some help with freight buying strategies or tips on benchmarking contracts?  Or perhaps you were pondering what those big beast shippers who invested in their own vessels will do now rates have collapsed? Well, please listen in, because these are just some of the issues addressed by host Mike King and...

The inaugural episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, features an in-depth debate with two thought-leaders in the world of business, logistics, container shipping, freight and retail. Host Mike King is joined by Paul Page, Editor of the WSJ Logistics Report, and Jon Gold, VP for Supply Chain and Customs Policy at the National Retail Federation. They...

Welcome to The Freight Buyers' Club podcast, a new home for anyone interested in international trade, container shipping, procurement, logistics and air freight; in fact, all things supply chain in the Americas, Asia and beyond. This podcast is brought to you by your host, Mike King, and produced in partnership with Dimerco Express Group, a global 3PL that specializes in managing logistics to, fro...