Baltic Exchange

Definition

World's premier ocean freight market for mostly dry bulk cargo (such as coal, grains, and iron ore) where ship owners and cargo owners are matched by the exchange's members called ship brokers. Situated in London, it is also the market for buying and selling ships (accounting for about half the world's new and second-hand tonnage), and where forward freight agreements are traded. The exchange started informally in 1744 in the Virginia & Maryland Coffee House at Threadneedle Street frequented by merchants and ships' captains, and its full name is Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange. See also Baltic indices.