Baltic Exchange
The Baltic Exchange is a London-based maritime membership organisation and financial-market information provider whose freight indices and assessments support global shipping contracts and derivatives.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
The Baltic Exchange is a British maritime-market institution that combines a professional membership organisation with a provider of freight-market information, shipping assessments and settlement data. Its roots are commonly traced to the Virginia and Baltick Coffee House, which operated near London’s Royal Exchange from 1744. Such coffee houses served as communication and transaction centres for merchants, shipowners, brokers and traders involved in Britain’s expanding international commerce. As trading relationships changed after American independence, the institution’s commercial focus increasingly included the Baltic region, Russia and other international markets. The organisation was incorporated as The Baltic Exchange Limited on 17 January 1900. For much of its history, the Baltic operated as a physical exchange in the City of London, where members met and conducted maritime business. Its former premises at 24–28 St Mary Axe were destroyed in the 1992 terrorist bombing. The exchange subsequently moved its headquarters and now operates from 77 Leadenhall Street in London, with additional offices and personnel serving European, Asian and North American markets. Today, the Baltic Exchange is best known for publishing independent daily freight-market assessments and shipping-cost indices. Its benchmark suite covers dry-bulk and tanker markets, including the Baltic Dry Index, Baltic Capesize Index, Baltic Panamax Index, Baltic Supramax Index, Baltic Handysize Index, Baltic Dirty Tanker Index, Baltic Clean Tanker Index and Baltic LNG Tanker Index. These assessments are used by shipowners, charterers, brokers, commodity companies, banks, investors and other market participants to evaluate freight conditions, negotiate charter rates, value shipping exposure and settle freight derivatives such as forward freight agreements. The exchange also provides forward curves, dry-cargo fixture information, vessel sale-and-purchase assessments, liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas assessments, market news and settlement data for freight derivatives. Its assessments are produced with input from a global panel of maritime market participants, largely shipbrokers. The Baltic’s membership community includes hundreds of companies representing a substantial portion of the international shipping industry, while the broader membership figure cited in reference material exceeds 5,000 individuals or member connections. Members are expected to follow a professional code of business conduct overseen by the organisation. Although the Baltic historically operated through a trading floor, modern transactions and communications are conducted mainly through telephones, email, electronic messaging and other market channels. In-person meetings continue to have a role in maritime relationship-building and commercial trust. The institution therefore functions less like a conventional securities exchange and more like a specialised infrastructure provider for the physical and derivative shipping markets. The Baltic has also supported the development of specialised freight benchmarks. In 2018 it announced the Freightos Baltic Index in partnership with Freightos, extending its assessment activity into container shipping. LNG assessments were introduced in 2019. The organisation was acquired by Singapore Exchange in November 2016 and remains headquartered in London. Its strategic importance lies in the transparency and standardisation its benchmarks bring to markets that have historically depended on bilateral negotiations and fragmented information.
History
The Baltic Exchange developed from London’s eighteenth-century mercantile coffee-house culture. Its institutional ancestry reaches back to the Virginia and Baltick Coffee House, established in 1744 near the Royal Exchange. Coffee houses served as practical information exchanges for merchants and maritime traders: participants shared news about cargoes, ships, ports, prices and commercial opportunities while arranging business connected with Britain’s overseas trade. Over time, shifting patterns of international commerce broadened the institution’s geographic and commercial orientation beyond Virginia and toward the Baltic region, Russia and other emerging markets. The Baltic Exchange was incorporated as a private limited company on 17 January 1900. Ownership of its shares was associated with its members, reflecting the organisation’s character as a professional maritime institution rather than a conventional public securities exchange. Its London premises became an important meeting place for shipbrokers, shipowners, charterers and other shipping professionals. The exchange’s identity was tied to face-to-face dealing, professional reputation and the circulation of reliable market information. That physical model was severely disrupted in 1992, when a terrorist bomb destroyed the Baltic’s historic building at 24–28 St Mary Axe in the City of London. The building’s destruction became one of the most visible interruptions in the exchange’s long history. The Baltic later established its headquarters at 77 Leadenhall Street. While personal meetings remain relevant to maritime commerce, the practical conduct of market business has moved largely to telephone, email, instant messaging and other communications systems. The exchange’s modern importance rests primarily on its role as a publisher and administrator of maritime freight benchmarks. It produces daily assessments for dry-bulk, tanker and gas-shipping markets, drawing on information from a network of global panellists, principally shipbrokers. The resulting indices and route assessments help market participants measure freight conditions and establish reference prices for chartering contracts. They are also used in the settlement of forward freight agreements and other freight derivatives. One of the best-known measures is the Baltic Dry Index, which aggregates information from selected dry-bulk shipping routes. Other benchmark families cover Capesize, Panamax, Supramax and Handysize vessels, as well as dirty and clean petroleum tankers. The exchange later expanded its coverage to LNG shipping and, through its partnership with Freightos, container freight. In addition to headline indices, it publishes forward curves, fixture information, vessel sale-and-purchase values, freight-market news and settlement data. The Baltic’s role in the shipping ecosystem is supported by a code of business conduct and a large international membership community. Reference material describes hundreds of member companies and more than 5,000 members, collectively representing a significant share of global shipping interests. Their activity includes dry-cargo and tanker chartering as well as merchant-vessel sale and purchase. In November 2016, Singapore Exchange acquired the Baltic Exchange. The transaction connected a historic London maritime institution with a major Asian financial-market operator while preserving the Baltic’s London headquarters and specialised shipping focus. The Baltic now operates internationally through offices and market relationships in Europe, Asia and the United States. Its continuing function is to make fragmented maritime markets more transparent, comparable and usable for physical shipping participants and financial-market users.
- 2019
LNG assessments launched
[1]The exchange added liquefied natural gas shipping assessments to its maritime benchmark offering.
- 2018
Container freight benchmark announced
[1]The Baltic Exchange announced the Freightos Baltic Index in partnership with Freightos.
- 2016
Acquired by Singapore Exchange
[1]Singapore Exchange acquired the Baltic Exchange in November, bringing its specialised maritime benchmarks into the SGX group.
- 2001
BIFFEX dry-freight contracts cease trading
[1]The remaining dry-cargo freight futures contracts ceased trading after declining volumes and insufficient liquidity.
- 1992
Historic St Mary Axe premises destroyed
[1]A terrorist bomb attack destroyed the Baltic Exchange’s premises at 24–28 St Mary Axe in the City of London.
- 1986
Tanker futures contract introduced and suspended
[1]BIFFEX introduced a tanker freight futures contract, but the product was suspended during the same year because it failed to attract sustained market participation.
- 1985
BIFFEX begins dry-freight futures trading
[1]The Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange began trading dry-cargo freight futures contracts settled against a Baltic freight index.
- 1900
Baltic Exchange incorporated
[1]The Baltic Exchange was incorporated as a private limited company on 17 January, with ownership linked to its membership.
- 1744
Institutional roots at the Virginia and Baltick Coffee House
[1]The institution traces its origins to a maritime-focused coffee house near London’s Royal Exchange, where merchants and shipping interests exchanged information and conducted business.
Products and positioning
A specialised, independent maritime-market infrastructure provider and professional exchange brand supplying trusted freight benchmarks, shipping assessments, market information and standards for the global commercial shipping industry.
Dry-bulk freight index
Baltic Dry Index
The Baltic Dry Index is a widely followed indicator of dry-bulk shipping conditions. It reflects assessments across selected vessel categories and routes and is used by shipping participants and financial-market users to monitor the cost of moving major dry cargoes. The index also provides a reference for analysing freight cycles and exposure to changes in global commodity transportation demand.
Dry-bulk vessel-class indices
Baltic Capesize, Panamax, Supramax and Handysize indices
These benchmark families provide more specific views of dry-bulk freight markets by vessel size and route composition. Capesize, Panamax, Supramax and Handysize ships serve different cargoes, ports and trading patterns, so their assessments allow market users to distinguish developments that can be obscured by a single broad dry-freight measure.
Tanker freight index
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index
The Baltic Dirty Tanker Index tracks freight-market assessments for tankers carrying crude oil and other relatively heavy petroleum cargoes. It is used as a market reference by owners, charterers, brokers and financial participants evaluating tanker earnings, voyage economics and freight derivative exposure.
Tanker freight index
Baltic Clean Tanker Index
The Baltic Clean Tanker Index covers selected clean-product tanker routes and provides a reference for freight conditions in markets transporting refined petroleum products. Its assessments support commercial negotiations, market analysis and the settlement or valuation of related freight exposures.
LNG freight index · 2019
Baltic LNG Tanker Index
The Baltic LNG Tanker Index provides benchmark information for liquefied natural gas shipping. It extends the exchange’s established freight-assessment model into a specialised gas market where vessel availability, route length, cargo flows and energy-market conditions influence transportation costs.
Container freight index · 2018
Freightos Baltic Index
The Freightos Baltic Index was developed with Freightos to provide container-shipping freight benchmarks. The partnership expanded the Baltic’s traditional focus on bulk and tanker markets into liner-container transportation and created reference data for analysing international container freight rates.
Maritime market information services
Forward freight market data and assessments
Beyond headline indices, the Baltic Exchange supplies forward curves, dry-cargo fixture lists, vessel sale-and-purchase assessments, LPG and LNG information, daily market news and settlement data. These services help commercial shipping users and financial institutions price contracts, compare market conditions and manage freight risk.
Freight futures exchange · 1985
BIFFEX
BIFFEX, or the Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange, was a historical futures market associated with Baltic freight indices. It began with dry-cargo freight futures in 1985 and later introduced a tanker contract. The dry contracts eventually stopped trading in 2001 after liquidity declined.
Brand decisions
2019
Launch of LNG shipping assessmentsProduct launchBackground
Growth in LNG transportation created demand for specialised freight-market assessments reflecting the economics of gas-carrier operations.
Action taken
The Baltic Exchange introduced LNG tanker assessments.
Aftermath
The exchange expanded its benchmark platform into LNG shipping alongside its established dry-cargo and tanker products.
2018
Expansion into container freight benchmarkingProduct launchBackground
Container shipping represented a major segment of global freight markets, but the Baltic’s historical benchmark portfolio was concentrated in dry bulk, tankers and related maritime sectors.
Action taken
The Baltic Exchange partnered with Freightos to announce the Freightos Baltic Index.
Aftermath
The partnership broadened the exchange’s published benchmark coverage to container freight markets.
2016
Acceptance of Singapore Exchange acquisitionM&ABackground
The Baltic Exchange was a specialised London maritime-market institution with established international benchmarks and membership services. Singapore Exchange sought to acquire the business and incorporate its shipping-market infrastructure into the SGX group.
Action taken
Singapore Exchange acquired the Baltic Exchange in November 2016.
Aftermath
The Baltic continued operating from London while becoming part of Singapore Exchange’s wider financial-market infrastructure and international commodities strategy.
Recent events
Reported
Vortexa and The Baltic Exchange announce data partnership[3]
Vortexa announced a data partnership with The Baltic Exchange to make the Exchange’s freight pricing benchmarks available alongside Vortexa analytics.
Reported
Baltic Exchange launches investor indices service[4]
The Baltic Exchange launched the Baltic Exchange Investor Indices, an online service providing shipping investors with a five-year view of dry bulk carrier financial prospects and related vessel investment data.
Sources5 sources
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