The Freight Buyers’ Club podcast is a new home for anyone with a professional interest in international trade, container 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. You can subscribe to receive each episode direct to your inbox at: thefreightbuyersclub.com
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June 11, 20265 min
China's Cargo Pivot: Africa, India and South America
China's exports to the US have fallen, but China hasn't slowed down. It has redirected. In this clip from the latest episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, Nigel Pusey, CEO of Container Trades Statistics, walks through where the cargo is going now: Sub-Saharan Africa up 33% in Q1 2026, South and Central America up 17%, India up 17%. He explains why this started before the latest round of tariffs, and how a logistics revolution in West Africa, with 20,000 TEU ships now calling Lagos, is making it possible.
Watch or listen to the full episode for the complete picture, including the European trade imbalance, the Strait of Hormuz, and Nigel's predictions for the rest of the year. Links on the channel.
Produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group.
#ContainerShipping #GlobalTrade #SupplyChain #ChinaTrade #Logistics
June 8, 20267 min
Container Shipping's Nash Endgame: The Equilibrium That Won't Last
The first episode of FBC Opinion, a new series from The Freight Buyers' Club. One expert, one argument, straight to camera, no host. In 2019, Akhil Nair wrote that container shipping would consolidate from 22 carriers to 12 within four years. Not through mergers. Through game theory. Seven years later, the count is exactly twelve. In this opinion piece, Akhil audits his own 2019 thesis. What he got right, what he got wrong, and why the equilibrium that has held container shipping together for seven years is now starting to break. His argument is that the equilibrium rested on five load-bearing conditions, and all five are under pressure at the same time. Ownership consolidation is back, with Hapag-Lloyd's acquisition of ZIM. Geopolitical risk is biting, with Iran's controlled zone over the UAE gateway ports. The Red Sea remains diverted. The EU's Consortia Block Exemption Regulation has expired. And MSC's independence, which has quietly stabilised the whole system, might no longer be guaranteed. Take any one away and the system holds. All five at once is a different story. If you are a BCO, shipper or freight buyer structuring contracts for 2026 to 2028, the closing section sets out three things you should be doing now. Akhil Nair is Operating Officer and Global Head of Freight Forwarding at LOGISTEED, which operates across 27 countries with 474 locations and handles 400,000 TEU annually. FBC Opinion brings leading freight buyers, BCOs and supply chain figures to camera to make one strong argument on the issues shaping container shipping, air cargo and global trade. Subscribe for new episodes. This episode is produced with the support of freight forwarder profitability specialist Ontegos Cloud. https://www.ontegos.cloud/
#containershipping #supplychain #freight #oceancarriers #logisticsAkhil Nair is Operating Officer and Global Head of Freight Forwarding at LOGISTEED.#containershipping #supplychain #freight #oceancarriers #logistics
June 2, 202645 min
Where Container Shipping Is Heading Next, With Nigel Pusey, CTS
Forget Trump's tariffs. The biggest story in container shipping isn't what's happening at America's ports. It's what's happening everywhere else.
In the first quarter of 2026, the global container market grew 4.4% despite the Strait of Hormuz being shut, fresh war in the Middle East, and Cape of Good Hope sailings now stretching east-west trade to breaking point. But underneath the headlines, the trade map is being redrawn.
Greater China's container exports to the United States fell 1.8 million TEU in 2025, and Container Trades Statistics is forecasting a similar net loss this year. Southeast Asia has picked up around a million TEU of that lost volume, but a net 800,000 boxes a year are now simply not going to America. China hasn't slowed down. It has redirected. In Q1 2026, Sub-Saharan Africa imports were up 33% on the same quarter a year earlier. South and Central America up 17%. India up 17%. These are the trades that will define container shipping for the rest of the decade.
To make sense of where the container market is actually heading, Mike King is joined by Nigel Pusey, CEO of Container Trades Statistics (CTS) and a 30-year veteran of Maersk Line and P&O Nedlloyd. CTS produces the most comprehensive dataset in container shipping, drawing about 75% of its data direct from the lines' own manifests and invoices.
In this episode, produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, Mike and Nigel cover:
Why the Greater China-to-US trade is in decline and what's filled part of the gap
How Vietnam absorbed half of the Southeast Asia growth into the US, with Thailand taking about a third and Cambodia 10-15%
Why Far East to Europe imports surged 15% in Q1 2026, and whether it's genuine demand or defensive stockpiling
The widening Asia-Europe imbalance, now 3.5 boxes inbound for every box out, and what it means for European manufacturing
How the Strait of Hormuz crisis is reshaping container flows, with Saudi Red Sea ports and trans-desert land bridges emerging as the new winners
Why the Cape of Good Hope routing looks increasingly permanent and why Suez may not reopen this year
The container trades primed to keep growing through 2027 and beyond
Why peak season may not happen this year, and what oil prices could do to global demand
Why intra-Asia trade, the world's biggest container market at over 50 million TEU, keeps motoring
If you buy, sell, plan or move freight, this is one of the clearest reads on where the container market is actually heading.
Special thanks to Dimerco Express Group for supporting this episode of The Freight Buyers' Club. Find out more about their transpacific, Asia logistics and tariff compliance services at https://dimerco.com/
Notes:
The Good, The Bad, and the ANC: South Africa’s Logistics on the Brink
Watch here: https://youtu.be/POyM0kHGMeg
#FreightBuyersClub #ContainerShipping #SupplyChain #GlobalTrade #Logistics #ChinaTrade #TrumpTariffs #VietnamManufacturing #ChinaPlusOne #Dimerco #CTS #ContainerTradesStatistics #MaritimeLogistics #FreightMarket #OceanFreight #StraitOfHormuz #CapeOfGoodHope
May 25, 20264 min
Platforms, Ecosystems or Agents: Who Wins in Freight Tech?
In this clip from The Freight Buyers' Club, three of the sharpest minds in logistics technology give three very different answers to the same question: in three years, which type of company wins?
Zubin Appoo, CEO of WiseTech Global, says integrated platforms with AI at the core displace everything else. Wolfgang Lehmacher, former Head of Supply Chain at the World Economic Forum, backs the ecosystem orchestrators. Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor at the Journal of Commerce, thinks the industry stays fragmented, just in a new way.
No consensus. No easy answers. Worth checking out.
Watch the full episode here:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX9C1d4HwNA
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xPnfH2JgjCmIjhGiV1w7F
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/who-wins-the-ai-race-in-logistics-and-who-gets-left-behind/id1668766055?i=1000766413060
Website: https://www.thefreightbuyersclub.com/podcast/who-wins-the-ai-race-in-logistics-and-who-gets-left-behind/
#AI #Logistics #FreightTech #SupplyChain #FreightForwarding #CargoWise #WiseTechGlobal #LogisticsTech #FreightBuyersClub #SupplyChainTech
May 20, 202642 min
Air Cargo Unpacked | Amazon's Freight Play, the Jet Fuel Shock and Why the MD-11 Returned
Is Amazon replacing the 3PL? In this episode of Air Cargo Unpacked, Mike King and co-host Neel Jones Shah dig into Amazon Supply Chain Services and what it really means for third party logistics providers, freight forwarders and the air cargo market. Is this a genuine supply chain management revolution or just a repackaging of existing services?
Also in this May episode: the Middle East capacity recovery -- Rotate's latest data on the Gulf region and what 74% recovery actually means for shippers. Neil Wilson, Editor of TAC Index and calculating agent for the Baltic Air Freight indices, unpacks the rates picture -- including the extraordinary Europe-Dubai lane, up 140% year on year as Emirates capacity collapsed. Shantanu Gangakhedkar of Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific on air cargo demand in the region and the scenarios that frame what happens next, from the Strait of Hormuz to growing e-commerce volumes. Jet fuel up almost 100% -- what the supply chain logistics implications are for carriers and shippers paying surcharges. ULD market disruption. And the FedEx MD-11 -- back in the skies despite all predictions.
Produced with the support of Ontegos Cloud, the freight forwarder profitability specialists. https://www.ontegos.cloud/
Co-host: Neel Jones Shah (ex-Delta, United, Flexport) Neil Wilson -- Editor, TAC Index Shantanu Gangakhedkar -- Principal Consultant and Aviation Lead, Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific
Produced by Karen Ball and Tom Matthews
#airfreight #3PL #supplychain #logistics #aviation #FedEx #MD11 #straitofhormuz #supplychainmanagement #aircargounpacked
May 14, 202650 min
Death by a thousand paper cuts: US tariffs, freight fraud and the cost of war
The Trump administration’s tariff programme has suffered another legal defeat. The US Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 against the 10% Section 122 global surcharge, the replacement for the IEEPA reciprocal tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court in February. So which tariffs are actually still standing, and what comes next?
Mike King is joined by Karen Kenney, founder and president of K2 Trade Solutions and Dimerco Express Group Trade Compliance Strategist, and Nancy O’Liddy, Executive Director of the National Industrial Transportation League, to map out the current tariff landscape, explain how the four remaining pillars stack, and look at what the $166 billion CAPE refund process means in practice for importers.
They also get into tariff fraud, including transshipment evasion, the growing risk of refund interception through the CAPE portal, and double-brokering in US domestic freight. Plus: diesel prices up 60% year on year, carrier surcharges, the Federal Maritime Commission’s pushback, and what the war in the Middle East actually means for shipping costs. And Nancy O’Liddy on why the NITL is calling for the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger to be denied.
A wide-ranging, practical episode for anyone managing freight costs or supply chain risk in 2026.
Produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group: https://dimerco.com
Contents
0:03:00 The Section 122 ruling: another legal defeat for Trump tariffs
0:06:00 Which tariffs are actually still standing?
0:08:00 The global tariff map: what it means by country and product
0:11:00 Tariff stacking explained: how 80% ends up on a tin can
0:15:00 The $166 billion refund: how the CAPE process is working in practice
0:23:00 Transshipment fraud: the $107 billion evasion problem
0:30:00 Refund fraud and the risk building around the CAPE portal
0:34:00 Double-brokering and domestic freight fraud
0:37:00 Fuel costs: diesel up 60% and what it means for shippers
0:47:00 Rail consolidation: why NITL is calling for the UP/NS merger to be denied
Related episode
Carrier consolidation, AI & freight fraud: Gebrüder Weiss North America CEO Mark McCullough
https://youtu.be/N7kVfrHfAAo
Data and press credits
Data and graphics: TPC Tariff Rules Engine v1.6 | American Automobile Association
Press coverage cited: The Guardian | The New York Times | Dow Jones Risk Journal (Liz Young, 28 April 2026) | The Washington Post (Linda Miller, 23 April 2026) | Journal of Commerce
Research cited: Gaia Dynamics, “The Refund Trap: Why IEEPA Recovery Can Trigger Hidden Compliance Exposure”, 21 April 2026 | Altana AI, tariff evasion report, April 2026
Follow the Freight Buyers’ Club
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1mjDlZfKPFAnZwZeTNsiej?si=465c7c68316e4a0c
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-freight-buyers-club/id1668766055
Website: thefreightbuyersclub.com
#TrumpTariffs #TradeWar #SupplyChain #FreightBuying #Logistics
May 11, 20266 min
The Questions Every Freight Buyer Should Ask AI Vendors: JOC's Eric Johnson
In this clip from The Freight Buyers' Club's latest AI and logtech special, Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor at the Journal of Commerce, gives freight buyers and logistics operators a practical framework for cutting through the AI vendor noise.
He covers how he evaluates vendor claims as a journalist, why the compulsion to understand how AI works is the wrong instinct, what blockchain taught us about technology hype, and the specific questions every buyer should be putting to vendors before they commit.
#AI #Logistics #FreightTech #SupplyChain #FreightBuying #LogisticsTech #ArtificialIntelligence #FreightForwarding #FreightBuyersClub #SupplyChainTech
May 6, 20261 hr 2 min
Who wins the AI race in logistics, and who gets left behind?
On April 7th this year, Anthropic released an AI model called Claude Mythos. It was so capable at finding vulnerabilities in software that the company restricted access to around fifty organisations. The US Treasury summoned the biggest banks. The Pentagon had already stepped in. The Economist called it a watershed moment.
In this episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, Mike King uses the Mythos moment as the way in to a much bigger conversation about AI and the future of logistics technology. Who controls the most powerful tools? What happens inside a company when AI actually lands? What does it mean for jobs, for compliance risk, for tribal knowledge, and for the competitive structure of the freight industry itself?
Joining Mike are:
Zubin Appoo, CEO of WiseTech Global, the company behind CargoWise
Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor at the Journal of Commerce, part of S&P Global
Wolfgang Lehmacher, former Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries at the World Economic Forum
In this episode:
The Mythos moment and what gated AI access means for freight
Fragmentation vs scale: the technology debate reshaping the industry
What AI actually does inside a logistics company when it lands
Tribal knowledge: what happens when the repetitive work disappears
Digital twins, compliance risk and the case for optimism
00:00 - Cold Open: The Mythos Moment00:01 - Meet the Panel00:03 - AI as a Controlled Substance: Framing the Debate00:04 - Eric Johnson: Manhattan Project and the Two-Tier Access Question00:06 - Wolfgang Lehmacher: Palantir, Government Relationships and Structural Advantage00:09 - Zubin Appoo: Where CargoWise Sits When AI Gets Gated00:11 - Fragmentation vs Scale: The Concentration Risk Debate00:13 - Inside the WiseTech Restructure00:17 - Intelligent Logistics: How AI Changes What Platforms Can Do00:20 - The Mid-Market Forwarder: Opportunity or Threat?00:21 - Eric Johnson: Cutting Through the AI Vendor Noise00:28 - Tribal Knowledge: What Disappears When the Repetitive Work Goes?00:34 - Wolfgang Lehmacher: Data Sharing, Digital Twins and Resilience00:44 - Compliance Risk: Where AI Actually Changes the Game00:52 - Who Wins in Three Years, and Is There a Case for Optimism?
#AI #Logistics #FreightTech #SupplyChain #CargoWise #FreightBuyersClub #WiseTechGlobal #ArtificialIntelligence #FreightForwarding #SupplyChainTech
April 27, 202620 min
Crisis = Opportunity? Why Forwarders Make More When Markets Break
When markets break, most industries struggle. Freight forwarders? They often make more.
In this episode of the Freight Buyers’ Club, Oliver Gritz (former CFO of DHL Express and Founder & CEO of Ontegos Cloud) explains why crisis creates opportunity in freight—and why some forwarders thrive while others fall behind.
From war-driven disruption and supply chain chaos to liquidity stress and missed revenue, we break down what’s really happening inside freight forwarding in 2026.
If you’re in freight, logistics, or global trade—this is what separates the winners from everyone else.
What you’ll learn:
Why forwarders make more money in volatile markets
The role of data in real-time supply chain decisions
Where forwarders lose 3–5% of profit (and how to fix it)
How top performers manage cash flow under pressure
What “winning the crisis” actually looks like operationally
About the guest: Oliver Gritz is the Founder & CEO of Ontegos Cloud and former CFO of DHL Express. With decades of experience inside global logistics, he now advises freight forwarders on profitability, data, and operational performance.
Listen / follow Freight Buyers’ Club: Podcast: https://www.thefreightbuyersclub.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thefreightbuyersclub2866
#FreightForwarding #Logistics #SupplyChain
April 23, 202622 min
Emirates Legend Ram Menen on Gulf War III and the Future of Gulf Air Cargo Hubs
Gulf air cargo hubs have taken a serious hit since the Middle East war began. The world's most strategically positioned freight network is under pressure - and the industry wants to know if it comes back.
In this segment from the latest Air Cargo Unpacked, Mike King and Neel Jones Shah sit down with Ram Menen - the man who spent nearly 28 years building Emirates SkyCargo and helped make Dubai one of the great global freight hubs - to ask the question the whole industry is asking: do the Gulf hubs come back, and how long does it take?
Together they cover the hub geography, the belly cargo and passenger confidence question, how this crisis ranks against Gulf War I, 9/11, SARS and COVID, whether forwarders building alternative routes creates a permanent market shift, and why Ram believes air cargo recovers faster than ocean shipping.
Ram's verdict: Gulf War III. Temporary setback, not existential crisis.
The full episode also features exclusive air cargo rate analysis from TAC Index, calculating agent for the Baltic Exchange Baltic Air Freight Indices, plus Bachi Spiga from DHL Express Middle East and North Africa on how DHL kept every country in the region served from day two of the conflict.
Full episode: ▶️ YouTube: https://youtu.be/YQROEd_DSAc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5OW32v9r8ZVejCWJ5oiB8r?si=beb29a01eeaf414b Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/air-cargo-unpacked-middle-east-war-fuel-crisis-capacity/id1668766055?i=1000761786379 thefreightbuyersclub.com: https://www.thefreightbuyersclub.com/podcast/air-cargo-unpacked-middle-east-war-fuel-crisis-capacity-disruption-and-global-fallout/
Produced with the support of Ontegos Cloud, freight forwarder profitability specialists: https://www.ontegos.cloud/
#AirCargo #AirFreight #MiddleEast #GulfAirCargo #Emirates #AirCargoUnpacked #FreightBuyersClub #OntegosCloud #BalticAirFreightIndex #TACIndex
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