The baltic exchange and its freight index

History

The Baltic Exchange is at the centre of the global maritime marketplace and provides daily independent shipping market information. The Baltic produces more than 50 daily assessments of the freight values for various shipping routes and sizes (dry, wet and LPG) as well as weekly sale and purchase and demolition value assessments.

The Baltic Freight Index (BFI) was introduced in 1985 to provide the settlement for a new freight futures contract, BIFFEX. In the late 1990s the BFI was sub-divided into vessel-specific indices to allow better hedging strategies for the market.

The Baltic Exchange Dirty Tanker Index (BDTI) and Clean Tanker Index (BCTI) were introduced in 1998, and in April 1999 the Baltic Cape Index (BCI) and the Baltic Panamax Index (BPI) became active. This was followed by the introduction of the Baltic Handy Index (BHI) in November 1997, which then became the Baltic Handymax Index (BHMI) in 2001. In January 2006 the Baltic Supramax Index (BSI) superseded the BHMI as part of the general evolution of ship types and the Baltic Handysize Index was introduced in 2007 to represent the smaller dry bulk vessels trading in the market.

Further developments included the introduction of the Baltic Liquidified Petroleum Gas Assessment (BLPG) in 2003 and the Baltic Sale and Purchase Assessment (BSPA) and the Baltic Demolition Assessment (BDA) in 2004.