The Loadstar Podcast The Loadstar Media Ltd

This episode looks at the supply chain and insurance fallout following the tragic Dali incident in Baltimore in March.
Host Mike King and guests also examine the decline of the port of Hong Kong, why air cargo demand is surprising analysts, and the latest detention and demurrage cases being filed with the US Federal Maritime Commission.
How the Red Sea crisis is currently impacting air and ocean networks, why trans-Pacific contract negotiations have stalled, and whether rejigs of the container alliance system will be beneficial for customers are also on the agenda.
Guests
Stephanie Loomis, Head of Ocean Freight, North America, Rhenus Logistics
Niall van de Wouw, Chief Airfreight Officer, Xeneta
Gavin van Marle, Managing Editor, The Loadstar
 
Episode in more detail:
Baltimore’s ‘Dali’ disaster (3.13)
USEC capacity tightens (5.00)
Who pays and why no insurance? (9.12)
Shadow boxing on Transpac contracts (17.19)
Box rates and existential normalisation (20.26)
Air cargo demand ‘surprise’ (24.41)
Red Sea sea-air shift (26.46)
Where next for air freight markets? (29.24)
US import demand drivers – tariffs++(30.44)
The Loadstar, D&D and the FMC (34.13)
Gemini – the good, the bad and… (38.21)
The decline and fall of Hong Kong (40.21)
 
Credits: Created, hosted and produced by Mike King & Associates
 

In this episode, The Loadstar Podcast has recaps from the biggest trade shows of 2024 and all the latest breaking news, not least recent lurches in container shipping rates and surges in air cargo volumes. DP World’s ambitious plans to expand its forwarding operations are the subject of a major exclusive interview.Host Mike King and guests also unpack what a China/Russia deal with Houthi militias means for container markets, whether IATA is serious about air cargo, why sea-air and e-commerce volumes are surprisingly strong, and how US legislators are targeting the Shanghai Shipping Exchange.
Guests:Glen Clark, CEO, DP World US/Mexico Peter Sand, Chief Analyst, XenetaAlex Lennane, Publisher, The Loadstar Episode in more detail:A welcome Loadstar return to Hong Kong (2.56)Is IATA taking cargo seriously? (5.56)Steps to make air cargo more sustainable (7.39)The Asia-Europe box trade (10.36)Implications of China/Russia deal with Houthi militias (14.21)Transpac contract negotiations update (16.51)New Trump tariffs and shipping strategies (18.47)The Mexico backdoor (20.57)Air cargo markets outlook (23.46)Is e-commerce sustainable? (24.39)Container line financials (28.25)US legislators target SSE (30.03)DP World - US gateway options (32.20)Stable supply chains in an unstable world (34.23)Sourcing diversification (36.51)Rolling out a new forwarding network (40.02)Leveraging scale in logistics (43.14) Credits: Created, hosted and produced by Mike King & Associates for The Loadstar www.theloadstar.com

The Loadstar Podcast is live from TPM24 in Long Beach, California. In this episode host Mike King hears what the mood is like at the logistics and shipping event of the year, which speakers have really delivered insight, and what negotiating stances BCOs, forwarders and carriers are taking in ongoing trans-Pacific contract negotiations.
Mike and guests also discuss the latest on the realignment of container shipping alliances, including what two leading carrier CEOs divulged at TPM24. They also examine why cargo is being funnelled towards US West Coast gateways and how US shippers and forwarders are coping with a “perfect storm” of supply chain disruptions.
 
Guests:
Doug Smith, CEO, DP World Canada
Dennis Grady, VP for Ocean, Ascent Global Logistics
Gavin van Marle, Managing Editor, The Loadstar
Mike Wackett, Sea Freight Correspondent, The Loadstar
 
Credits: Created, hosted and produced by Mike King & Associates for The Loadstar www.theloadstar.com
 

This episode examines why turning the temperature dial up on the cold chain makes a lot of sense, not least from an energy and emissions saving perspective. Host Mike King and guests also explore why collaboration in the supply chain is the best route to sustainability and look forward to TPM24 in Long Beach when the logistics world converges on California to discuss the latest supply chain challenges and negotiate those critical long-term trans-Pacific ocean freight contracts. The Red Sea crisis, Panama Canal water levels and the threat of union action at US East Coast ports will all be factors during this tendering season.
Mike and guests also discuss where container rates might go next, who might buy DB Schenker and why the Asia-Europe trade has settled into some kind of ‘new normal’.
 
Guests:
Piotr Konopka, Group Vice President Global Decarbonisation & Energy Programmes, DP World
Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, Journal of Commerce
Dirk Hoffmann, Account Director, Reefer Supply Chain Services, DP World
Gavin van Marle, Managing Editor, The Loadstar
 
Created, edited and hosted by Mike King & Associates for The Loadstar www.theloadstar.com
For more information about getting involved in DP World’s ‘move to –15C' iniative please contact Dirk Hoffmann, Account Director, Reefer Supply Chain Services, DP World, at: Dirk.Hoffmann@dpworld.com
 
Episode in more detail:
TPM24 (3.05)
Red Sea crisis and the Asia-Europe trade (4.23)
Freight rates and Europe (7.48)
Container shipping capacity (8.44)
Cargo shift: USEC to USWC? (10.55)
Who will buy DB Schenker? (13.29)
Maersk and DSV’s M&A strategy (15.16)
Sustainable supply chain innovations and frustrations (18.45)
Shifting the cold chain to -15°C (22.51)
Collaborating to cut emissions (37.02)
 Zero Emissions Port Alliance (39.28)
Low hanging emissions-cutting fruit (43.48)

Host Mike King hears that freight rates are soaring, the Dutch air cargo community is in uproar, and shippers really are not happy with the transparency of liner surcharges, and not just those relating to the de facto closure of the Suez Canal to container shipping.
This episode also unpacks the details and implications of the new Maersk/Hapag Lloyd ‘Gemini Cooperation’. One guest believes the partnership’s promise to offer world-class service reliability is a ‘game-changer’ and will force the hands of rivals.
Meanwhile, one of those rivals, CMA CGM, is close to getting yet another major logistics purchase over the line. Is its strategy that much different to Maersk’s integrator ambitions?
 
Guests
James Hookham, Director, Global Shippers Forum
Peter Sundara Swamickannu, Head of Global Ocean Freight Product, Visy Global Logistics
Alex Lennane, Publisher, The Loadstar
 
Episode in more detail
CMA CGM’s integrator ambitions? (1.49)
Juggling air cargo expertise (3.55)
Air cargo CNY boost (6.27)
Red Sea crisis and ocean spot rates (8.22)
Shippers call for surcharge transparency (9.59)
ETS + Suez = confusion (14.05)
Pricing resilience (18.25)
Red Sea alternative routings (21.08)
How to manage supply chain uncertainty (23.58)
Equipment shortages build-up (26.03)
Suez domino effects (29.57)
Gemini could be a ‘game-changer’ (35.27)
Dutch air cargo uproar (40.41)
 
Credits: Created, edited and produced by Mike King & Associates for The Loadstar

Host Mike King hears that the de facto closure of the Suez Canal to almost all container shipping traffic is creating mounting supply chain bottlenecks for global trade.
Cape of Good Hope diversions are throwing the supply-demand balance of the global container shipping fleet out of kilter, driving up freight rates and charter rates.
Added transit times are already leading to equipment and slot shortages in Asia as the market heads towards Chinese New Year factory closures in February. One guest predicts that disruption will last into the second of 2024.
The Loadstar expects air cargo demand to benefit as supply chain bottlenecks prompt expedited shipments.
 
Guests:
Jon Monroe, President, Jon Monroe Consulting
Rob Powell, MD, Miro Logistics
Mike Wackett, Sea Freight Correspondent, The Loadstar
 
Episode in more detail:
Diversions around the Cape (2.25)
Excess boxship capacity sucked dry (3.25)
Suez drives freight rate spikes (5.23)
Asia-Europe contract season (7.36)
Container charter market (8.45)
Chinese New Year looms (9.50)
Red Sea crisis hits backhauls (11.48)
UK exporters over a barrel (15.38)
Carrier-shipper relations damaged (17.40)
Air cargo upbeat (22.57)
Asia asset imbalance (24.37)
Why US trades so impacted (26.30)
What shippers should expect next (28.34)
USWC’s perfect storm? (31.13)
Betting on trans-Pac contract levels (32.26)
Firefighting advice to SC execs (36.05)
 
Credits: Created, edited and produced by Mike King & Associates for The Loadstar