Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF)

The Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) is a liner-shipping surcharge that passes ship fuel-price changes through to the freight rate, billed per TEU or per tonne on a trade lane. It is a commercial charge, not an IMO instrument. Carriers set it by formula tied to a fuel-price index, a standard consumption per container, and a trade-distance factor: Maersk has published a transparent BAF formula since 2019, and CMA CGM and others run lane-specific versions. BAF rose after the 2020 MARPOL Annex VI 0.50% sulfur cap shifted fleets onto costlier VLSFO and MGO, and reset again as scrubber spreads moved.