Michael King

Small and medium-sized companies hoping to compete against larger corporations in international markets will increasingly rely on logistics partners to help them navigate rising trade barriers and cross-border transaction costs, economist and author Marc Levinson tells the latest episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club. Levinson also questions whether the largest container vessels are fit for…

“I don’t know if you could call it an early peak season, but certainly everybody has moved their shipping schedules up,” Jon Monroe, President, Jon Monroe Consulting, tells the latest episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club. The threat of major hikes in US import tariffs, combined with the fear of union action at East Coast ports…

The container shipping schedule reliability targets promised by Gemini Cooperation, the new Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd partnership which will start operating services in February 2025, have the potential to be transformative for customers and carrier alliances, according to leading shippers. “I think it’s doable and I think it will then potentially reshape the entire shipping world,”…

Some container traffic that migrated to US Gulf and East Coast ports in recent years is now being switched back to West Coast gateways by retailers and forwarders desperate to avoid supply chain disruption. Low water on the Panama Canal and the de facto closure of the Suez Canal to container shipping due to Houthi…

Philip Damas, Managing Director of Drewry Shipping Consultants and Head of Drewry’s Supply Chain Advisors practice, also told the latest episode of The Freight Buyers’ Club podcast that shippers negotiating new long-term ocean freight contracts should carefully scrutinise surcharges as well as rates. Container lines will use a variety of methods to minimise losses due…

Container shipping CEOs have killed the golden goose by ordering too many ships, and also might need to re-examine the type of vessels best suited to a more regional world dominated by geopolitical tensions, according to the former chairman of two of the world’s leading carriers. Bronson Hsieh, former chairman of both Evergreen and Yang…

Bronson Hsieh, former chairman of both Evergreen and Yang Ming container lines, believes a multi-pronged capacity reduction effort will help carriers avoid a freight rate war as demand growth stalls. Container lines will counter excess capacity and slow demand growth by deploying multi-faceted strategies to reduce slot supply, according to the former chairman of two…

Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and India amongst the ‘winners’ of post-Covid sourcing changes. Non-China supply chains will force carriers to reorganise shipping services. Largest container ships may suffer a loss of utility. The diversification of product sourcing away from China in the post-Covid era as manufacturer sand retailers seek more supply chain resilience will have a…