Shipping markets
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The international
The freight market
The freight market consists of
Freight derivatives
Freight derivatives, which includes
and containerships. These instruments are settled against various freight rate indices published by the Baltic Exchange (for Dry and most Wet contracts), Shanghai Shipping Exchange (International and domestic Dry Bulk, and International Containers), and Platt's (Asian Wet contracts), or physical delivered through Shanghai Shipping Freight Exchange.FFAs are often traded
Baltic Dry Index measures the cost for shipping goods such as iron ore and grains. The trading volume of dry freight derivatives, a market estimated to be worth about $200 billion in 2007, grew as those needing ships attempted to contain their risks and investment banks and hedge funds looked to make profits from speculating on price movements. At the close of the 2007 financial year, the number of traded lots on dry FFAs doubled the derived physical product.[citation needed]
Shanghai Shipping Freight Exchange is the first electronic shipping freight exchange in the world. It has three lines of businesses, including International Dry Bulk, Domestic Coastal Coal, and International Container. The container freight derivatives were launched in 2011 and shortly became the most liquid container freight contracts. Based on the success and experience from container freight contracts, SSEFC launched coastal coal contracts in 2012. In 2014, in order to better achieve the risk shifting effect of shipping freight derivatives, SSEFC innovated and launched the world's first physical-deliverable shipping capacity contract.
The sale and purchase market
In the sale and purchase market,
The shipbuilding market
The newbuilding market deals with transactions between shipowners and shipbuilders. Contract negotiation can be very complex and extend beyond price. They also cover ship specifications, delivery date, stage payments and finance. The prices on the newbuilding market are very volatile and sometimes follow the prices on the sale and purchase market.
The demolition market
On the demolition market, ships are sold for scrap. The transactions happen between shipowners and demolition merchants, often with speculators acting as intermediaries.
See also
References
- Martin Stopford; Maritime Economics (3rd edition, 2009)