BIFFEX

BIFFEX, the Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange, was the first exchange-traded dry-bulk freight futures contract, launched in 1985 on the London commodity-futures market and settled against the Baltic Freight Index (BFI). It let owners and charterers hedge freight rate risk on a cleared, standardized contract before the over-the-counter FFA market existed. The single basket-index contract gave poor hedging performance against any specific route, so liquidity stayed thin, and trading ceased in April 2002. The bilateral, route-specific FFA, settled against individual Baltic route assessments, replaced it and is the dry-bulk and tanker freight derivative used today.