Aytekin Saray, CEO of Global GSA Group, joins The Freight Buyers Club at Air Cargo China in Shanghai to explain where he sees air cargo's next growth, and why much of it sits in markets the GSA sector has underserved.

Saray describes Africa as a major gap, with the Indian subcontinent, South America and the Middle East close behind, and says even competitors are thin on the ground in some of these regions. He talks through the group's moves into Egypt and Pakistan, an imminent Pakistan announcement, and his interest in Saudi Arabia. He argues that political tension, which he sees as more US and Western in origin, keeps re-engineering trade routes, and that the cargo industry feels the impact first.

The conversation also covers the case for consolidation among GSAs, Saray's warning that too many unregulated players are undercutting rates, the shift from selling capacity to total corridor management, the role of CargoTech and automation in a more integrated GSA model, and what Amazon, UPS and e-commerce mean for the business. Saray predicts most of the market will still rely on GSAs.

Guest: Aytekin Saray, CEO, Global GSA Group. Recorded at Air Cargo China, Shanghai.

This episode is brought to you by Dimerco Express Group, your freight forwarder for connections from Asia to the rest of the world: https://dimerco.com/

#AirCargo #AirFreight #GSA #Logistics #SupplyChain #FreightForwarding #Cargo #AirCargoChina #GlobalGSAGroup #CargoTech #Ecommerce #Africa #India #MiddleEast #TheFreightBuyersClub #Dimerco

Anchorage keeps growing while air cargo from Asia to Europe falls away. Same freight, opposite directions. Mike King and Neel Jones Shah unpack a freight market pulling apart, with Sean Dolan of NorthLink Aviation on why Ted Stevens Anchorage is booming, and Neil Wilson of TAC Index, calculating agent for the Baltic Air Freight Indices, on rates and jet fuel.

Also this month: war and tariffs reshaping the map, the end of EU de minimis, the AI and semiconductor boom filling Asian carriers, Farnborough's order book, Dimerco's survey of 57 Asia-Pacific shippers, and Glyn Hughes handing over the top job at TIACA to Mammen Tharakan.

Produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group, your partner for Asia sourcing, manufacturing and China-plus-one supply chains. https://dimerco.com/

00:00 Welcome and coming up this month
01:00 Two disruptions: war and tariffs
02:00 Houthis blockade Saudi Arabia, Red Sea at risk
04:00 Neel on the Middle East and the tariff scramble
08:00 Asia-Europe volumes collapse after de minimis
11:00 Anchorage: the world's third-busiest cargo hub
12:00 Sean Dolan: what's driving Anchorage's growth
13:00 Sean Dolan: the route picture and peak season
14:00 Neel: e-commerce, AI, and the transpacific boom
16:00 Neel: the debt behind the AI cargo boom
18:00 Rates: Neil Wilson, TAC Index
22:00 Seoul and Taiwan: the semiconductor lanes
24:00 Jet fuel: why it's not feeding through yet
29:00 Farnborough: MSC's order and DHL's converted freighter
32:00 Dimerco's shipper survey and ocean volatility
36:00 TIACA: Glyn Hughes hands over to Mammen Tharakan

#AirCargo #Logistics #SupplyChain #Freight #AirCargoUnpacked

US container imports are heading for a record month, and then four months of decline. Mike King puts that to both sides of the transpacific: Torsten Hartmann, who runs the trade for Hapag-Lloyd, and Jon Gold of the National Retail Federation, representing America's retailers.

They discuss where contract rates landed, why Hapag-Lloyd's long term rates are barely breaking even, what the ZIM deal would mean for the transpacific, and what happens to importers as one tariff expires and several more line up behind it.

Produced with the support of Dimerco Express Group. https://dimerco.com/

00:00 Welcome
02:00 2026 in three words
03:15 Hormuz and uncertainty
05:50 Spot rates and contracts
08:55 Hapag-Lloyd's profit upgrade
10:50 Surcharges and the FMC
13:40 Capacity and blank sailings
17:15 Hapag-Lloyd's transpacific outlier
18:58 The ZIM deal
20:20 Consolidation and the regulator
21:15 A record month, then the drop
23:10 Imports against the consumer
24:45 The tariff queue
27:45 Forced labour tariffs
30:10 Tariff refunds
31:55 Sourcing and investment
33:00 De minimis and e-commerce
36:40 The shift to Southeast Asia
37:30 Planning around policy
38:40 As good as it gets?
39:55 One ask each
42:30 Terminal handling charges

Carolin Gerstenmaier, Head of Industry Development at Lufthansa Cargo, joins the Freight Buyers Club at Air Cargo China in Shanghai to talk through the two highest value, fastest growing industries in air freight: semiconductors and pharma.

She walks through why a single chip can involve up to ten separate air freight movements, how semiconductor manufacturing has shifted from the US and Europe to Asia over the last 30 years, and why radioactive cancer treatments are now flight critical logistics, needing to reach a patient within 24 hours. The conversation also covers sustainability pressure from customers, AI and real time tracking, and how Lufthansa Cargo's network adapts to geopolitical disruption.

This episode is sponsored by Dimerco Express Group, connecting Asia to the rest of the world. Find out more at https://dimerco.com/

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:41 Pharma and semiconductors: the growth outlook
01:56 How semiconductor demand has shifted to Asia
02:56 Why semiconductors aren't a one size fits all business
03:57 Building a consistent modular offer across the supply chain
04:41 China plus one and the shift in manufacturing origin
06:04 Lufthansa Cargo's role across the supply chain
06:41 Pharma: the second largest growing industry
07:38 Blockbuster medicine versus specialised, individualised medicine
08:52 Cold chain, speed and flight critical logistics
09:24 Sustainability and AI driven tracking
10:59 Geopolitics, tariffs and network adaptability
12:14 Compliance, certification and the GDP/CEIV framework
13:37 Where semiconductors and pharma go next

Recorded at Air Cargo China in Shanghai, Mike sits down with Cédric Millet, President of CargoTech, for an exclusive look at how one company is pulling air cargo's software under a single roof.

CargoTech is a holding company, backed by the same owner as ECS Group, the world's largest cargo GSA. It brings together specialist software companies, each focused on its own domain. Millet's pitch is a simple one: "we know cargo." He argues that because the portfolio's leaders came out of airlines, forwarders and GSAs, their software is built to solve cargo's real pain points, a claim he draws in contrast to the wave of generic tech newcomers now entering the space.

What Mike and Cédric get into:

This episode of The Freight Buyers Club is brought to you by Dimerco Express Group, your forwarding partner for transport from Asia to the rest of the world. Big thanks to Dimerco for supporting independent journalism. Find out more at https://dimerco.com/

Guest: Cédric Millet, President of CargoTech, and Chief Strategy & Digital Officer, ECS Group

Mike King is in Shanghai for Air Cargo China, and he sat down with Kathy Liu, VP global sales and marketing at Dimerco Express Group, for a fast read on what is really moving across ocean and air.

Container rates have climbed since March, and Kathy explains the mix behind it: vessels tied up by Middle East disruption, a shortage of empty boxes at key Asian origins, and shippers front-loading ahead of tariff deadlines. Peak season has arrived early on the transpacific, though underlying demand is flat, so it may fade early too. She maps where congestion has moved, from an automated Shanghai that is coping to multi-day berth waits at Nhava Sheva, Colombo and Singapore.

On air cargo, the AI and data centre boom is rewriting the map. Taiwan to US capacity is tight and rates are high, a run Kathy expects to last three to five years. Components are being pulled towards AI builds ahead of laptops and PCs, which points to a consumer electronics squeeze later in the year.

She closes on the sourcing shift into Mexico, Vietnam and West Africa, and why Chinese companies still hold most of the freight decisions. Her advice for shippers: stay agile, and watch the market daily.

#Shipping #AirCargo #SupplyChain #Freight #ContainerShipping

Timestamped show notes

00:00 Live from Dimerco's Shanghai office, ahead of Air Cargo China
01:00 Dimerco's China footprint: 70-plus offices, air, ocean, customs and bonded
01:30 Why ocean rates have soared since March
02:30 The empty container shortage at Asian origins
03:30 Fuel surcharges, transit times, and shippers switching to sea-air and cross-border trucking
04:30 An early peak season, but flat underlying demand
05:30 Port congestion: Shanghai coping, Nhava Sheva, Colombo and Singapore not
06:30 The Red Sea and Hormuz knock-on for congestion
07:00 Carrier consolidation and what shippers actually care about
08:00 EU de minimis ends, and why e-commerce volumes are holding
09:30 The AI and data centre boom driving air cargo
11:00 Taiwan to US capacity crunch, and components diverted from laptops
13:00 Is this structural or a spike? Kathy's three to five year view
14:30 Sourcing shifts into Mexico, Vietnam and West Africa
16:00 Why Chinese companies still control the freight
17:00 Kathy's advice for shippers in a black swan market

Trade wars used to be something economists told you to avoid. Nobody wins one, so you don't fight. That argument is over. In this episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, Mike King talks to trade economist Chad Bown about why the old rules-based system has gone, and what that means for anyone who sources, ships or moves cargo for a living.

Chad Bown is the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, host of the Trade Talks podcast, and a former chief economist at the US State Department. With Soumaya Keynes he has written How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy.

We get into China's drive for one-way dependence, the weaponising of rare earths, the squeeze on developing economies, and why Europe is suddenly on the front line. Then we bring it back to the people listening. Where do you source when the map keeps changing? How do you find the hidden risk in your own supply chain? And what did companies like Apple do early that the rest are now scrambling to copy?

If you buy freight, run a supply chain or decide where the factories go, this one is about the decade ahead.

Produced with the support of Ontegos Cloud, the freight forwarder profitability specialists.

Trade wars used to be something economists told you to avoid. Nobody wins one, so you don't fight. That argument is over. In this episode of The Freight Buyers' Club, Mike King talks to trade economist Chad Bown about why the old rules-based system has gone, and what that means for anyone who sources, ships or moves cargo for a living.

Chad Bown is the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, host of the Trade Talks podcast, and a former chief economist at the US State Department. With Soumaya Keynes he has written How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy.

We get into China's drive for one-way dependence, the weaponising of rare earths, the squeeze on developing economies, and why Europe is suddenly on the front line. Then we bring it back to the people listening. Where do you source when the map keeps changing? How do you find the hidden risk in your own supply chain? And what did companies like Apple do early that the rest are now scrambling to copy?

If you buy freight, run a supply chain or decide where the factories go, this one is about the decade ahead.

Produced with the support of Ontegos Cloud, the freight forwarder profitability specialists.

Notes:

Shoumitro Chatterjee and Arvind Subramanian, “China’s mercantilist squeeze on developing countries,” PIIE Working Paper, May 2026.

Arvind Subramanian talks to Chad Bown. https://tradetalkspodcast.com/podcast/215-how-chinas-trade-is-holding-back-developing-countries/

Richard Broekman, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Sustainability at Atlas Air, joins Mike King and Neel Jones Shah for the June episode of Air Cargo Unpacked.

Atlas flies 113 widebody freighters, around 13% of the world's widebody freighter fleet, so few people have a better view of where this market is heading. Richard gives a first-hand account of how Atlas managed the US de minimis shock in 2025 - which came on top of ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs - by redeploying capacity to Latin America almost overnight, and what it tells us about the EU's de minimis deadline coming on July 1.

We also dig into why freight rates are soaring even as IATA cuts its 2026 demand forecast to 0.7%; the hyperscaler data centre boom reshaping the transpacific; the charter surge through the war in Iran; Atlas Air's record Airbus A350 freighter order and the lingering Boeing 777X question; the Air Atlanta investment; and an honest take on sustainable aviation fuel.

Rates analysis from Neil Wilson, editor of TAC Index, calculating agent for the Baltic Air Freight Indices.

A Freight Buyers' Club production, brought to you by Ontegos Cloud, the freight forwarder profitability specialists.

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

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 #logistics
Akhil Nair is Operating Officer and Global Head of Freight Forwarding at LOGISTEED.
#containershipping #supplychain #freight #oceancarriers #logistics