This podcast is a new home for anyone with a professional interest in international trade, shipping, procurement, logistics and air cargo. Each episode your host, award-winning journalist Mike King, will be speaking to leading decision-makers, analysts, journalists, operators and shippers to get their take on current freight and logistics markets and the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Latest Episodes

Navigating the Future of Global Trade and Supply Chains

April 9, 2024 richard 00:40:24 Comments Off

In this episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, host Mike King delves into the current state of global trade amidst geopolitical tensions and disruptions with renowned economist, historian, and journalist, Marc Levinson. They explore the long-term implications for importers, exporters, carriers, and the entire transport ecosystem. From the impact of...

Freight markets, politics, the threat of tariffs and the future of global trade – with Brandon Fried & Jon Monroe

March 20, 2024 richard 00:43:58 Comments Off

Uncertainty and risk haunt supply chains right now, just as they shadow global politics and economics. Indeed, the future of trade and the musical chairs of international relations have possibly not been tethered so tightly since at least the Cold War, and perhaps even the Second World War. From Guyana...

US West Coast ports hope for a cargo bonanza in 2024 – but are they prepared?

March 1, 2024 richard 00:18:16 Comments Off

In this deep dive into US logistics and international trade, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King explores whether 2024 could see a major surge of cargo into US West Coast terminals. Levi Strauss & Co said earlier this year that it had “already shifted some...

The Freight Buyers' Club

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Host Mike King in discussion with author and historian Marc Levinson on the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, sponsored by Dimerco Express Group.
About Marc Levinson
Marc is an economist, historian, and journalist with a long track record of writing and speaking about economic and business issues. His book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, which explains how a seemingly simple innovation made globalization possible, received many awards. The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, which explores the fascinating history of government efforts to crack down on chain stores to protect mom-and-pop retailers, won praise across the ideological spectrum and was published in a second edition in 2019.
His 2016 book, An Extraordinary Time, is an unusual take on the miserable decade of the 1970s, showing how the sudden end of the postwar boom led voters in many countries to choose leaders who promised to cut government down to size — Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, and others. But they couldn’t bring back the good times, because rapid productivity growth, the critical ingredient in higher living standards, is something political leaders can’t deliver.
His most recent project, Outside the Box, presents an unorthodox history of globalization. It shows that the international economic relationships we’ve known since the late 1980s, based on intricate long-distance value chains, are only a stage in the process of globalization — a stage that was waning long before Trump, Brexit, and COVID-19. But he contends that globalization is far from over; rather, it is moving into a stage in which the flow of ideas and services will be much more important than the flow of boxes filled with goods.
#container #shipper #freight #peakseason #aircargo #supplychain #podcast #economics #logistics #aircargo #globaltrade #globalisation #freetrade #podcast

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LmJmNDl4YXJOSm9j

The future of technology and whether the largest container ships and freighters are fit for purpose.

$#container #shipper #freight #peakseason #aircargo #supplychain #podcast #economics #logistics #aircargo #globaltradeIn In this episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, host Mike King delves into the current state of global trade amidst geopolitical tensions and disruptions with renowned economist, historian, and journalist, Marc Levinson. They explore the long-term implications for importers, exporters, carriers, and the entire transport ecosystem. From the impact of recent events on supply chains to the shifting dynamics of globalization, in this episode, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, Marc shares valuable insights into the future of trade and logistics. Mike and Marc also discuss the regionalization of supply chains, the delicate balance between efficiency and risk management, and how to best navigate the complex landscape of global trade in an ever-changing world. Episode in more detail: A fractured trading environment (02.18) Deaton and the merits of globalisation (04.45) Has trade growth peaked? (09.31) Products vs Services (12.59) Technology implications for trade volumes (16.12) Do we have the right ships and freighters? (18.37) Container lines as integrators (21.24) Competitive advantage and geopolitics (24.54) Sourcing diversification (26.00) Trade and security policy (29.13) A new cold war? (32.41) SMEs and protectionism (35.05) Net zero or ground zero (38.12) About Marc Levinson Marc is an economist, historian, and journalist with a long track record of writing and speaking about economic and business issues. His book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, which explains how a seemingly simple innovation made globalization possible, received many awards. The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, which explores the fascinating history of government efforts to crack down on chain stores to protect mom-and-pop retailers, won praise across the ideological spectrum and was published in a second edition in 2019. His 2016 book, An Extraordinary Time, is an unusual take on the miserable decade of the 1970s, showing how the sudden end of the post-war boom led voters in many countries to choose leaders who promised to cut government down to size — Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, and others. But they couldn’t bring back the good times, because rapid productivity growth, the critical ingredient in higher living standards, is something political leaders can’t deliver. His most recent project, Outside the Box, presents an unorthodox history of globalization. It shows that the international economic relationships we’ve known since the late 1980s, based on intricate long-distance value chains, are only a stage in the process of globalization — a stage that was waning long before Trump, Brexit, and COVID-19. But he contends that globalization is far from over; rather, it is moving into a stage in which the flow of ideas and services will be much more important than the flow of boxes filled with goods.$

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LlU0SXBwMmFZRU1n

Navigating the Future of Global Trade and Supply Chains

Host Mike King in discussion with author and historian Marc Levinson on the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club podcast available on all podcast platforms.
About Marc Levinson
Marc is an economist, historian, and journalist with a long track record of writing and speaking about economic and business issues. His book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, which explains how a seemingly simple innovation made globalization possible, received many awards. The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, which explores the fascinating history of government efforts to crack down on chain stores to protect mom-and-pop retailers, won praise across the ideological spectrum and was published in a second edition in 2019.
His 2016 book, An Extraordinary Time, is an unusual take on the miserable decade of the 1970s, showing how the sudden end of the postwar boom led voters in many countries to choose leaders who promised to cut government down to size — Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, and others. But they couldn’t bring back the good times, because rapid productivity growth, the critical ingredient in higher living standards, is something political leaders can’t deliver.
His most recent project, Outside the Box, presents an unorthodox history of globalization. It shows that the international economic relationships we’ve known since the late 1980s, based on intricate long-distance value chains, are only a stage in the process of globalization — a stage that was waning long before Trump, Brexit, and COVID-19. But he contends that globalization is far from over; rather, it is moving into a stage in which the flow of ideas and services will be much more important than the flow of boxes filled with goods.
#container #shipper #freight #peakseason #aircargo #supplychain #podcast #economics #logistics #aircargo #globaltrade #globalisation #freetrade #podcast

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LkpQUnZLYkxPdGJJ

Why the rise of protectionism means SMEs need reliable transport partners Host Mike King in

In this clip from the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, sponsored by Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King is in discussion with renowned economist and historian Marc Levinson.
About Marc Levinson
Marc is an economist, historian, and journalist with a long track record of writing and speaking about economic and business issues. His book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, which explains how a seemingly simple innovation made globalization possible, received many awards. The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, which explores the fascinating history of government efforts to crack down on chain stores to protect mom-and-pop retailers, won praise across the ideological spectrum and was published in a second edition in 2019.
His 2016 book, An Extraordinary Time, is an unusual take on the miserable decade of the 1970s, showing how the sudden end of the postwar boom led voters in many countries to choose leaders who promised to cut government down to size — Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, and others. But they couldn’t bring back the good times, because rapid productivity growth, the critical ingredient in higher living standards, is something political leaders can’t deliver.
His most recent project, Outside the Box, presents an unorthodox history of globalization. It shows that the international economic relationships we’ve known since the late 1980s, based on intricate long-distance value chains, are only a stage in the process of globalization — a stage that was waning long before Trump, Brexit, and COVID-19. But he contends that globalization is far from over; rather, it is moving into a stage in which the flow of ideas and services will be much more important than the flow of boxes filled with goods.
#container #shipper #freight #peakseason #aircargo #supplychain #podcast #economics #logistics #aircargo #globaltradefinance #globalisation #freetrade

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LmhDTDg5NU9icE9Z

Why trade growth is slowing. Host Mike King in discussion with author and historian Marc Levinson

A clip from the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club.
About Marc Levinson
Marc is an economist, historian, and journalist with a long track record of writing and speaking about economic and business issues. His book The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, which explains how a seemingly simple innovation made globalization possible, received many awards. The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America, which explores the fascinating history of government efforts to crack down on chain stores to protect mom-and-pop retailers, won praise across the ideological spectrum and was published in a second edition in 2019.
His 2016 book, An Extraordinary Time, is an unusual take on the miserable decade of the 1970s, showing how the sudden end of the postwar boom led voters in many countries to choose leaders who promised to cut government down to size — Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, and others. But they couldn’t bring back the good times, because rapid productivity growth, the critical ingredient in higher living standards, is something political leaders can’t deliver.
His most recent project, Outside the Box, presents an unorthodox history of globalization. It shows that the international economic relationships we’ve known since the late 1980s, based on intricate long-distance value chains, are only a stage in the process of globalization — a stage that was waning long before Trump, Brexit, and COVID-19. But he contends that globalization is far from over; rather, it is moving into a stage in which the flow of ideas and services will be much more important than the flow of boxes filled with goods.
#container #shipper #freight #peakseason #aircargo #supplychain #podcast #economics #logistics #aircargo #globaltrade #globalisation #freetrade

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LnA1aTR2LXNZWEow

Why traded goods are getting smaller and what this means for logistics

Former president Trump has threated to impose a universal baseline tariff of 10% on all imported goods, and tariffs of more than 60% on imports of Chinese goods, if he wins the US election in November. What does this mean for importers? In this clip from The Freight Buyers' Club podcast, Jon Monroe, President, Jon Monroe Consulting, and Brandon Fried, Executive Director, Airforwarders Association (AfA), give their views.

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Why US elections and threat of new import tariffs are already influencing 2024 shipping strategies

In this clip from the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, produced with support of Dimerco Express Group, Brandon Fried, Executive Director of the US-based Airforwarders Association (AfA), gives his take the air freight market in March 2024. He also explains how geopolitical ructions are impacting air cargo operations.

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March 2024 air freight outlook and geopolitical disruption – Brandon Fried, AfA Executive Director

In this clip from the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club podcast, produced with support of Dimerco Express Group, container shipping veteran Jon Monroe, President of Jon Monroe Consulting, analyses trans-Pacific annual contract negotiations between carriers and shippers, and explains why many shippers are looking to move cargo early in 2024.

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Why many BCOs are shipping early in 2024 – Jon Monroe, President, Jon Monroe Consulting

Guests:
Jon Monroe, President, Jon Monroe Consulting
Brandon Fried, Executive Director, Airforwarders Association (AfA)
Description
Uncertainty and risk haunt supply chains right now, just as they shadow global politics and economics. Indeed, the future of trade and the musical chairs of international relations have possibly not been tethered so tightly since at least the Cold War, and perhaps even the Second World War.
From Guyana to Central Asia, the Middle East to the South China Sea and Black Sea, risk stalks trade and threatens supply chain resilience, while the outbreak of conflict is reshaping the logistics landscape.
And we also have a different type of risk in 2024 in the shape of billions of people heading to the polls, not least in the US where Americans are getting ready to elect a new President and trade policy – and the threat of new tariffs on US imports from China and elsewhere - is a key political battleground.
This episode asks what all this means in practical terms for freight markets, the shippers that rely on international supply chains, and those in the business of making trade happen, both now and in the long-term.
Host Mike King and his guests also discuss whether technology and collaboration offer solutions to current supply chain inefficiencies and examine the pros and cons of China+1 options.
This episode, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, also includes updates on ocean and air freight markets and rates, insight into the trans-Pacific contracting season, and more analysis of supply chain disruptions including Red Sea diversions, the threat of strikes at US East Coast ports later this year, and the ongoing closure of large swathes of air space to ‘Western’ airlines.
Episode notes:
‘Rethinking my economics’, Angus Deaton.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2024/03/Symposium-Rethinking-Economics-Angus-Deaton
Angus Deaton is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs, Emeritus, at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Economics Department at Princeton University. He is the 2015 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

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#17 Freight markets, politics, the threat of tariffs and the future of global trade

Noel Hacegaba, Chief Operating Officer, Port of Long Beach, explains the deciding factors for moving cargo to the USWC this year

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LmZNeS1uTjRNWUh3

Why the trans-Pacific contracting season will decide freight volumes switched to US West Coast ports

Matt Schrap, CEO, Harbor Trucking Association, explains why his members are ready to handle any surge of cargo to the US West Coast

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West Coast truckers are ready to handle a cargo bonanza in 2024 – CEO, Harbor Trucking Association

In this deep dive into US logistics and international trade, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, host Mike King explores whether 2024 could see a major surge of cargo into US West Coast terminals.
Levi Strauss & Co said earlier this year that it had “already shifted some product to go through the West Coast instead of the East Coast". Clearly it is not alone. The share of US seaborne imports of apparel shipped from Asia to US West Coast ports rose to 59.1% in December 2023, up from 56.7% in December 2022, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows. In the first 25 days of January, the ratio increased to 64.8%, the highest since October 2022.
As this episode explores, a number of factors are pushing cargo westwards, not least the Red Sea crisis and diversions of container ships around the Cape of Good Hope. Low water on the Panama Canal and the threat of dockworker union action at US Gulf and East Coast ports later this year are also considerations for shippers.
How deep and significant this trend is for container shipping and US ports and supply chain stakeholders will become clearer after the latest round of trans-Pacific annual contracts have been signed and sealed. A lot of those conversations will be taking place at Long Beach, California, in the first week of March when the city hosts TPM24.
As this podcast explores, many shippers will not just be looking at the cost/transit equation, they will also be asking whether West Coast terminals are ready to handle a surge in cargo.

Guests:
Noel Hacegaba, Chief Operating Officer, Port of Long Beach
Bjorn Vang Jensen, Executive Director for International Transport, Cummins
Alexander King, Branch Manager for New York and New Jersey, Dimerco Express Group
Jon Gold, VP for Supply Chain and Customs Policy, National Retail Federation
Matt Schrap, CEO, Harbor Trucking Association

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US West Coast ports hope for a cargo bonanza in 2024 – but are they prepared?

In this news insights episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, host Mike King is talking U.S. trucking, drayage, domestic freight demand and international trade with Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association.
Among other topics, they delve into:
• The readiness of US West Coast truckers to cope with for an influx of import cargo due to disruptions in the Red Sea and Panama Canal
• Whether LA and Long Beach ports have the processes, capacity and labour in place to handle a surge of cargo.
• Actions taken to improve the container return system, which had a significant detrimental impact on chassis supply during the pandemic.
• The advantages and disadvantages of various appointment systems that drayage operators serving western gateway terminals must navigate.
• The sluggish investment in non-diesel trucks despite the availability of subsidies and incentives.

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YouTube Video VVVOVE1CZnFjbzV1U1J3VXY5WDdZUHV3LjE5X0dsN1A1OWVV

US West Coast truckers ready for box import surge (but less keen on buying non-diesel trucks)

In this news insight episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club, Noel Hacegaba, Chief Operating Officer at the Port of Long Beach, outlines why the de facto closure of the Suez Canal to container shipping, low water levels on the Panama Canal, and the threat of union action at rival ports on the US East and Gulf Coast, are creating a unique window of opportunity for West Coast trade gateways.
But after the congestion and chaos of the Covid years, host Mike King asks if Long Beach’s terminals and supply chain stakeholders are now fully prepared to smoothly process a box volume demand spike.

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Is the Port of Long Beach ready to receive a new wave of container imports?

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

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The 2024 trade and economic growth outlook as geopolitical headwinds intensify

In this clip from the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, Bjorn Vang Jensen, Executive Director for International Transport at American multinational Cummins and a man who has been on all sides of the freight buying equation, offers some timely advice as supply chain planners juggle demands on inventory and their time due to the de facto closure of the Suez Canal.

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Managing the Red Sea crisis and supply chain chaos: A shipper’s perspective, with Bjorn Vang Jensen

Sage advice from Bjorn Vang Jensen, Executive Director for International Transport at American multinational Cummins. Do expect container shortages and multiple knock-on effects to supply chains from the Suez Canal closure to most container shipping for an extended period, but be cynical about those who say the sky is falling – especially when they have an interest in the sky falling.

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Red Sea crisis will cause multiple supply chain snarl-ups, but don't always believe the doomsayers

Bjorn Vang Jensen, Executive Director for International Transport at American multinational Cummins, explains why the partnership announced by Maersk and Hapag Lloyd in January 2024 can be a game-changer for container shipping customers, and puts immense pressure on their box shipping peers.

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Bjorn Vang Jensen: Why Maersk/Hapag Gemini Cooperation can “reshape the entire shipping world”.

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