Ahead of the FFABA Tanker Freight Derivatives Forum hosted by the Baltic Exchange and FFA Brokers Association, Baltic Briefing sits down with the new Wet FFABA Chairman, Angus Procter.

In the second instalment of this two-part interview, the focus changes to the Baltic Exchange and next months FFABA Tanker Freight Derivatives Forum.

What is the Baltic Exchange doing to support the market?
The forums and the workshops held throughout the year help market participants better understand what changes, if any, there are in the market, and bringing people together to talk about how best to take this market forward. They are there to give clarity on parameters, so that we are all reading off the same hymn sheet, and to keep the end of day prints both on physical and paper as fair as possible at all times.

What do you want to see more of from the Baltic Exchange this year?
Maybe speed up the process of getting new routes through to live and tradeable, but I realise that may be some time constraints from a legal perspective.

What benefits do you see coming from the Baltic’s five new tanker routes under public trial, is there one that particularly interests you?
The USG VLCC and Afra routes have been trading for a few months, and I think hold real value with the change in trade flows that we have seen at the start of this year, they have both been well received in the FFA market. I think that they comes at a good time, as there is liquidity to spare on the VLs and the Afra markets need a bit of a boost as TD8 and TD19 have gone a bit quiet of late.

What do you think will be the key topics of discussion at next month’s FFABA Tanker Freight Derivatives Forum?
Getting the new routes pushed through to tradeable status asap, supply side dynamic (how has this changed with a strong Q4-18 behind us), and the parameters laid out by the Baltic regarding vessel descriptions as a result of the 2020 legislation changes.

What do you hope the Forum achieves?
That some people coming out knowing more than when they went in! I hope that any new participants realize that this market has a lot to offer, especially in the next 2 years. It will be an interesting few hours, that hopefully clears up any issues that some people may harbour regarding how this year is going to shape up especially going into 2020, and I hope it challenges some people’s views on how this year will perform with the great speakers we have lined up.

Angus will be speaking at the FFABA Tanker Freight Derivatives Forum on 25 February as part of a panel discussion on Sulphur Cap 2020, volumes vs cargo flows, new contracts & benchmarks updates. For more information click here. 

About the FFABA
The FFABA is an independent association of FFA broking Baltic Exchange members formed in 1997 and serviced by the Baltic. The Association runs regular forums with the Baltic Exchange to promote FFA trading and bring together market participants.

Chairman (Wet): Angus Procter (Braemar ACM-GFI)
Chairman (Dry): John Banaszkiewicz (FIS)

FFABA Aims

  • Promote the trading of Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs)
  • Promote high standards of conduct among market participants
  • Liaise with the Baltic Exchange to ensure the production of high quality indices for use by the freight futures industry
  • Provide a forum for brokers and principals to resolve problems as they arise
  • Develop and promote the use of standard contracts
  • Develop the use of other ‘over the counter’ and exchange traded derivative products for freight risk management