Baltic Exchange

Baltic Exchange
	TheBaltic Exchange Memorial Glass,; now at theNational Maritime Museum
Type	Maritime membership and data organisation
Location	City of London,England
Founded	1744
Owner	SGX
Key people	Lord Mountevans(Chairman); Mark Jackson(CEO); Janet Sykes(CCO); Mark Read(CFO)
Currency	GBP
Indices	Baltic Dry Index; Baltic Panamax Index; Baltic Capesize Index; Baltic Supramax Index; Baltic Handysize Index; Baltic Dirty Tanker Index; Baltic Clean Tanker Index
Website	balticexchange.com

TheBaltic Exchange(incorporated asThe Baltic Exchange Limited^[1]) is amembership organisationfor themaritime industry,andfreight marketinformation provider for the trading and settlement ofphysicalandderivative contracts.

Situated sinceEdwardian timesat24–28 St Mary Axe,London EC3,the building wasdestroyed by a bomb in 1992.The Baltic Exchange then relocated to 38 St Mary Axe on 15 May 1995, before establishing itsheadquartersat77 Leadenhall Streetin theCity of Londonas well as further offices in Europe, across Asia, and in the United States.

Overview

Its international community of 650 member companies encompasses the majority ofworld shipping interestsand commits to acode of business conductoverseen by the Baltic Exchange:^[2]its members are responsible for a large proportion of all dry cargo and tanker fixtures as well as the sale and purchase of merchant vessels.^[3]

The Baltic Exchange traces itsrootsback to 1744 at theVirginia and Baltick Coffee HouseonThreadneedle Street,near theRoyal Exchange.With the rapid expansion of Britain's network of global trade,London's mercantile coffee housesoperated as a maritime commercial node for communication and business. As British influence in trade toVirginiabegan to wane afterAmerican Independence,focus shifted toRussian Empireand other emerging markets.^[4]

Incorporated as aprivate limited companywithsharesowned by its members on 17 January 1900, the Baltic Exchange was acquired in November 2016 by theSingapore Exchange (SGX)and remainsheadquarteredinLondon.

Theexchangeprovides daily freight market prices and maritime shipping cost indices which are used to guide freight traders as to the current level of various global shipping markets, as well as being used to set freight contract rates and settlefreight futures(known asForward Freight Agreementsor FFAs). Historically operating on itstrading floor,Baltic members' transactions are nowadays primarily conducted via othermeans of communication(eg.telephone, e-mail, instant messagingetc), althoughface-to-face client meetingsremain integral to buildingtrust.

The exchange is the source of market-wide information and publishes seven dailyindicesmade up from a suite ofwetanddrybench-marked time-charter and voyage routes:

Baltic Dry Index(BDI)
Baltic Panamax Index (BPI)
Baltic Capesize Index (BCI)
Baltic Supramax Index (BSI)
Baltic Handysize Index (BHSI)
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index (BDTI)
Baltic Clean Tanker Index (BCTI)
Baltic LNG Tanker Index (BLNG)

In April 2018, the Baltic Exchange announced a globalcontainer indexcalled theFreightos Baltic Index(FBX)^[5]in partnership withFreightos.Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) assessments launched in 2019.^[6]

The exchange also provides forward curves, a dry cargo fixture list, sale and purchase values, LPG & LNG assessments, daily market news, and the market settlement data for freight derivative contracts.

BIFFEX

BIFFEX, theBaltic International Freight Futures Exchange,was a London-based exchange for trading ocean freight futures contracts with settlement based on theBaltic Freight Index.It started trading dry cargo freight futures contracts in 1985, and was modestly successful for some years. All contracts were cleared by the ICCH (International Commodity Clearing House), later renamedLCH.Clearnet(London Clearing House). A tanker freight futures contract was introduced in 1986, but never became popular and was suspended indefinitely the same year. Volumes in the dry cargo contracts dwindled over the years, and the contracts ceased trading due to lack of liquidity in 2001.

Baltic Exchange management

As of 2023, the Baltic Exchange's management comprises:

Chairman:Lord Mountevans^[7]
Chief Executive: Mark Jackson^[8]
Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary: Mark Read
Chief Commercial Officer: Janet Sykes
Communications Manager: Bill Lines.

Premises

Theexchangewas historically located at24–28 St Mary Axein theCity of Londonuntil it wasdestroyed in 1992 by a terrorist bomb attack.

The grandeur of the Baltic'sinterioris depicted byFinnemore'sengravingin 1918 of its Exchange Hall (ie.trading floor).

Now based at77 Leadenhall Street,London EC3,the Baltic Exchange has further offices in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Former chairmen

Past chairmen include:^[9]

Frank Emil Fehr(1937-1939)

Notes

^"Companies House entry".Retrieved23 December2015.
^The Baltic Code
^www.balticexchange.com
^www.oup.com
^"Press Announcements".www.balticexchange.com.^{[permanent dead link]}
^https://thebalticbriefing.com/member-news/baltic-lng-index-update/^{[permanent dead link]}
^www.balticexchange.com
^CNBC (26 September 2016)."Baltic Exchange names Mark Jackson as new CEO".CNBC.Retrieved26 September2016.
^"From 1900, Baltic Chairmen have championed the maritime cause".Retrieved3 February2024.

References

Huber, Mark (2001). "Ch. 9:Chartering and Operations".Tanker operations: a handbook for the person-in-charge (PIC).Cambridge, MD: Cornell Maritime Press.ISBN 0-87033-528-6.
Turpin, Edward A.; McEwen, William A. (1980). "Ch. 18:United States Navigation Laws and Ship's Business".Merchant Marine Officers' Handbook.Centreville, MD: Cornell Maritime Press.ISBN 0-87033-056-X.

External links

51°30′54″N0°04′49″W/ 51.5151°N 0.0802°W/51.5151; -0.0802

[1] "Companies House entry".Retrieved23 December2015.

[2] The Baltic Code

[3] www.balticexchange.com

[4] www.oup.com

[5] "Press Announcements".www.balticexchange.com.^{[permanent dead link]}

[6] ttps://thebalticbriefing.com/member-news/baltic-lng-index-update/^{[permanent dead link]}

[7] www.balticexchange.com

[8] CNBC (26 September 2016)."Baltic Exchange names Mark Jackson as new CEO".CNBC.Retrieved26 September2016.

[9] "From 1900, Baltic Chairmen have championed the maritime cause".Retrieved3 February2024.

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