Baltic Exchange and the digital container freight platform Freightos have unveiled an independent, audited benchmark for the global container shipping industry.

On April 25, during the Singapore Maritime Week, the two organisations informed that the Freightos International Freight Index will be audited by the Baltic Exchange and republished as the Freightos Baltic Indices.

The index reflects weekly spot rates for 40-foot containers based on 12 to 18 million price points collected every week on 12 main shipping trade lanes.

This will also include a new headline index – the FBX Global Container Index (FBX) – a weighted average of the 12 underlying route indexes, while setting the stage for derivative financial instruments in the future.

“Baltic Exchange benchmarks are already widely used as settlement mechanisms in the derivatives and physical markets for billions of dollars-worth of bulk freight transactions,” Mark Jackson, Baltic Exchange Chief Executive, said.

“By offering our robust auditing methodology to the FBX, we hope to provide the framework for the container shipping industry to develop sophisticated risk management tools,” Jackson added.

“This exciting endeavour means that the world’s manufacturers, distributors and retailers, and logistic services providers, will for the first time be capable of managing ocean freight rate volatility,” Freightos Founder and CEO Zvi Schreiber concluded.