Baltic Exchange

Subject – Economy

Context – Spike in Baltic Exchange’s capsize index signals costlier coal shipments

Concept –

Coal-starved power stations received another shock as the capesize index, the main dry bulk sea freight index of The Baltic Exchange sailed past the 10,000 points mark, a first in more than 13 years, making the rates for shipping dry bulk commodities such as coal costlier.
The overall index rose 4.4 per cent to 5,647 points, the highest since September 2008 when the Lehman Brothers collapse triggered a global crisis.

About Baltic Exchange –

The Baltic Exchange (incorporated as The Baltic Exchange Limited) is a membership organisation for the maritime industry, and freight market information provider for the trading and settlement of physical and derivative contracts.
It was located at 24–28 St Mary Axe, London, until the building was destroyed by a bomb in 1992, and is now located at 38 St Mary Axe.
It has further offices in Europe, across Asia, and in the United States.
BIFFEX, the Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange, was a London-based exchange for trading ocean freight futures contracts with settlement based on the Baltic Freight Index.

Baltic Freight Index

Baltic Freight Index stands for shipping and trade index which has been created by the Baltic Exchange based in London.
It is a measure of the cost of transporting various raw materials.
The Baltic Exchange contacts the shipping brokers directly for assessing price levels for a specific route, product, time and speed.