Baltic Exchange Enters Chemical Tanker Market
The Baltic Exchange has launched a new series of chemical and agricultural oil assessments.
The Baltic Chemical and Agricultural Oil Assessments (BCAA) will be produced on a weekly basis as of February 2025. The assessments are designed to serve a segment of the freight market – across owners, charterers, brokers and trading companies.
The BCAA will offer insights into a series of trade routes covering “easy-chemicals” like benzene, biofuels and caustic soda, as well as vegetable oils. The indices, priced in USD per metric ton and basis 5,000 mt or 10,000 mt shipments (and 40,000 mt for vegetable oils), reflect the unique nature of chemical tankers which carry multiple cargo types and require specialised handling beyond a traditional oil products carrier.
The trade routes covered by BCAA include:
EC11: Northwest Europe to US Gulf
EC22: Middle East Gulf to West Coast India
EC23: Middle East Gulf to China
EC34: US Gulf to Far East
EC35: US Gulf to Northwest Europe
EC36: US Gulf to Brazil
EC43: Singapore to China
EC52: Korea to West Coast India
EC57: Korea to Singapore
PO45: Singapore Straits to Northwest Europe
VG62: EC South America to West Coast India
“Unlike traditional freight indices, chemical tanker operations are highly complex, involving multiple unrelated cargoes with very specific but diverse stowage and handling requirements. However, the chartering market has now become sufficiently mature for us to develop a reference price for these key trade lanes,” said Mark Jackson, CEO of Baltic Exchange.
The BCAA is the latest in a series of new products from the Baltic Exchange. Recent launches include the Baltic Know-Your-Customer (KYC) Platform, which leverages trusted databases to enhance due diligence and compliance procedures, and its FuelEU Maritime Calculator, which helps shipowners estimate the commercial costs of the new environmental regulation.
