Aframax FFA
TankerLong Or Short
Aframax tanker FFAs; mid-size crude; North Sea/Mediterranean routes
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
BDI as China demand proxy
Baltic Dry IndexBias
Use BDI as leading indicator for global trade and commodities
Source: quantpedia.com
Baltic Capesize Index BCI
ToolsTool
Baltic Capesize Index; primary FFA settlement underlying; published daily
Source: balticexchange.com
Baltic Dry Index BDI
ToolsTool
Baltic Dry Index composite of Capesize Panamax Supramax; macro shipping indicator; not directly tradable
Source: wikipedia.org
Baltic Dry trend follow
Baltic Dry IndexBoth
Trade Forward Freight Agreements based on BDI trend
Source: quantpedia.com
Baltic Forward Curve
ToolsTool
Baltic Exchange daily forward curve assessments; primary FFA forward pricing reference
Source: balticexchange.com
Brazilian Iron Ore Front Loading
Dry BulkLong
Vale Brazil iron ore export surge drives long-haul Capesize demand; tradable seasonal pattern
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Breakwave Advisors BDRY ETF
ToolsTool
Breakwave Dry Bulk Shipping ETF (BDRY); Capesize/Panamax/Supramax FFA exposure for retail
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Capesize 5TC FFA Long
Dry BulkLong
Capesize 5TC FFA; weighted average of 5 routes; iron ore/coal cargoes; institutional commodity-trading-firm hedge
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Capesize Backwardation Trade
Dry BulkLong Front Month
Backwardated curve when spot tight; long front-month capture roll yield as curve flattens
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Capesize Calendar Spread
Dry BulkLong Or Short
FFA calendar spreads; near-month vs far-month; capture seasonal pattern (Q3 strength on iron ore)
Source: thesignalgroup.com
Capesize FFA route trade
CapesizeBoth
Trade Capesize iron ore voyage forwards
Source: quantpedia.com
Capesize Q1-Q4 Quarterly
Dry BulkLong Or Short
Quarterly FFA contracts; Q3 typically peak rates; trade quarter-on-quarter shape
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Capesize-Iron Ore Spread
SpeculationLong Or Short
Trade Capesize FFA vs iron ore futures spread; freight is leveraged play on iron ore
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Capesize-Panamax Spread
Dry BulkLong Or Short
Capesize-Panamax FFA spread; trade size-mix differentials; iron ore tightening favors Capesize
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Charterer Cost Hedge
HedgingHedge
Cargo charterer (commodity trader/miner) buys forward FFA strip; locks freight cost; iron ore/grain traders
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Clarksons Securities Broker
ToolsTool
Clarksons = leading shipping intelligence and FFA broker
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Container North Europe FFA
ContainerLong Or Short
North Europe container FFA; European retailers and OEMs; capture supply-chain disruption
Source: wikipedia.org
Container Transpacific FFA
ContainerLong Or Short
Transpacific container FFA; US-bound consumer goods; high beta to retail demand
Source: wikipedia.org
Container vs Dry Bulk Spread
StrategyLong Or Short
Cross-sector container-vs-dry bulk spread; different demand drivers (consumer vs industrial)
Source: wikipedia.org
Crude-Product Tanker Spread
TankerLong Or Short
Crude tanker vs product tanker FFA spread; refining margin and arbitrage flow
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
EOS Trader CME Group
ToolsTool
CME-provided trading application for weather and freight derivatives
Source: cmegroup.com
EU ETS Maritime Carbon Trade
SpeculationLong
EU ETS includes maritime from 2024-2026; carbon cost passed through; bullish FFA + EUA inclusion
Source: environmental-finance.com
FBX Container FFA
ContainerLong Or Short
Freightos Baltic Index container freight; emerging derivatives market; covers 8 main container routes
Source: wikipedia.org
FFA Calendar Spread Options
OptionsLong Or Short
Calendar spread options on FFA; trade differential vol between near and far
Source: balticexchange.com
FFA Options Volatility
OptionsLong Vol
Asian-style options on FFA averages; trade vol on freight shocks (sanctions canal closures)
Source: balticexchange.com
FFA Strangle Income
OptionsShort Vol
Sell FFA strangles in range-bound markets; collect time decay; risk on trend breakouts
Source: balticexchange.com
FFA Tail Hedge
OptionsHedge
Buy OTM FFA options for tail hedge against extreme freight moves (2008 crash 2007 surge)
Source: balticexchange.com
FFA Time-Weighted Portfolio
StrategyLong Or Short
Time-weighted FFA portfolio used to proxy expected vessel earnings; OLS or DCC-GARCH hedge ratio
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
FFA time charter equivalent
Time CharterBoth
Daily TCE rates for various vessel classes
Source: quantpedia.com
FIS Freight Investor Services
ToolsTool
FIS = main FFA broker for institutional clients; provides liquidity and clearing
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
GFI BGC Inter-Dealer Broker
ToolsTool
GFI Inter-dealer FFA brokering; institutional flow
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
IMO 2020 Sulfur Trade
SpeculationLong
IMO 2020 0.5% sulfur cap drove scrubber-fitted vessels premium; persistent fuel-spread trade
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
LCH ClearNet Clearing
ToolsTool
LCH (London) clearing for FFAs; reduces counterparty credit risk; 99.5% trades cleared since 2014
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
LR2 Product Tanker FFA
TankerLong Or Short
LR2 long-range product tanker FFA; refined products (gasoline/diesel) seaborne; growth on EU sanctions
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Long Capesize on China Stim
Dry BulkLong
China stimulus drives iron ore demand; Capesize highly leveraged to China steel
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Mean Reversion Spot
SpeculationMean Rev
Freight rates strongly mean-revert (unlike financials random walk); trade FFA curve toward long-term mean
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Newbuild Order-Book Data
ToolsTool
Newbuild orderbook data (Clarksons SIN); forward fleet supply estimation
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Newbuild-Order Trade
SpeculationShort
Heavy newbuild orderbook implies excess supply 2-3 years out; short forward FFAs to capture rate decline
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Owner-Charterer Counter-Trade
StrategyLong Or Short
Owner sells forward / charterer buys forward; capture liquidity premium between sides
Source: thesignalgroup.com
Panama Canal Drought Trade
SpeculationLong
Drought-induced canal closures (Panama 2023; Suez 2021 Ever Given); reroute = ton-mile expansion = bullish
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Panamax 4TC FFA
Dry BulkLong Or Short
Panamax 4TC FFA; grains and coal cargoes; smaller vessel size
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Panamax FFA route trade
PanamaxBoth
Mid-size freight forwards for grains/coal cargoes
Source: quantpedia.com
Port Congestion Data
ToolsTool
Port congestion measured via AIS; wait times correlate with FFA front-month
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Port Congestion Trade
SpeculationLong
Port congestion creates virtual tonnage shortage; long FFA on global congestion spikes
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Red Sea Houthi Trade
SpeculationLong
Red Sea attacks reroute to Cape of Good Hope; long-haul ton-mile expansion; bullish freight
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
SCFI / FBX container index
ContainerBoth
Trade container freight indices for retail/manufacturing
Source: quantpedia.com
SCFIS Shanghai Container Future
ContainerLong Or Short
Shanghai Containerized Freight Index Settlement (SCFIS); SHFE-listed container futures
Source: wikipedia.org
SSY Simpson Spence Young Broker
ToolsTool
SSY = traditional shipbroker with FFA division; deep dry bulk relationships
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Sanctions Trade VLCC
TankerLong
Sanctions create long-haul re-routing premium; long VLCC FFAs on tonnage absorption
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Scrapping Cycle Trade
SpeculationLong
Heavy scrapping reduces fleet supply; bullish FFA forward; identify via scrapping age data
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Scrapping Data
ToolsTool
Scrapping data (vessels sent to demolition); forward fleet supply contraction
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Shipowner Revenue Hedge
HedgingHedge
Shipowner sells forward FFA strip; locks vessel earnings; common during high-rate periods
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Singapore Exchange SGX FFA
ToolsTool
SGX clears Asian FFA flow; growing liquidity venue
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Static vs Dynamic Hedge Ratio
StrategyHedge
Static OLS hedge ratio outperforms dynamic DCC-GARCH for ship-price hedging in dry bulk
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Suezmax FFA
TankerLong Or Short
Suezmax tanker FFAs; smaller crude tankers; West Africa-East Coast routes
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Supramax 10TC FFA
Dry BulkLong Or Short
Supramax 10TC FFA; minor bulks (steel iron alloys grains); smallest vessel category in dry bulk derivatives
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Tanker vs Dry Bulk Cycle
StrategyLong Or Short
Different cycle timing tanker vs dry bulk; trade lead-lag relationships
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Time-Charter Hedge
HedgingHedge
Owner who time-charters out hedges fixed-rate exposure; FFA strip matches charter tenor
Source: thesignalgroup.com
VLCC TD3C FFA
TankerLong Or Short
Very Large Crude Carrier TD3C (Middle East-Far East); benchmark crude tanker route
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
VLCC tanker route trade
TankerBoth
Trade large tanker route futures for crude shipping
Source: quantpedia.com
Vessel Asset Value Hedge
HedgingHedge
Newbuild ship-buyer cross-hedges with 5-yr FFA strip (max liquid); imperfect but tradable hedge
Source: jshippingandtrade.springeropen.com
Vessel Tracking AIS Data
ToolsTool
Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for vessel tracking; predicts spot rates from positioning data
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
Voyage Charter Hedge
HedgingHedge
Single-voyage commodity exporter hedges via near-month FFA; voyage-specific hedge
Source: thesignalgroup.com
WAFR-China Volume Trade
TankerLong
WAFR-China VLCC route; Asia demand drives ton-mile expansion
Source: breakwaveadvisors.com
An encyclopedia of publicly documented strategies for education. YCAI does not recommend, endorse, or trade any of these. Not investment advice.