Asia-Europe futures CoFIF prices stayed broadly unchanged for the past week on flat trading volumes with spot SCFIS rates dropping further on 18 March to 2,437 points to close the gap with current EC2404 futures which closed at 1,826 points. International Energy Exchange (INE), the exchange where CoFIF contracts are being traded, announced new measures to spur trading volumes after market close on 18 March for EC2406-EC2412: (1) drop the margin requirement from 22% to 18%, meaning for every dol
CoFIF trading volume slumped to a new low of 10,101 lots last Friday (9 March 2024) as speculative sentiment cooled. Based on an estimated ratio of one lot to 10 teu, the reduced CoFIF daily trading volumes still amounts to 100,000 teu, which provides significant market liquidity that matches the daily turnover of the dry bulk FFA which has a longer trading history. However, CoFIF is digitally traded as opposed to dry bulk FFAs that trade over-the-counter. Open interest, an indicator of traders
The CoFiF market shrugged off the 9% drop in the SCFI Asia-North Europe rates last week as the drop was already widely anticipated with forward rates still trading at a discount to spot. The latest SCFIS (Europe) index on 4 March dropped by 3.0% after the previous week’s 9.5% fall with the smaller decline helping to curb further selling in the CoFiF market. With the EC2404 expiration date drawing closer, trading volumes have dropped amidst uncertainty over the extent and speed of further rate
There are basically two freight futures products one being Freightos Baltic's CFFA(container freight forward agreement) being traded at SGX (Singapore Exchange) and CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange), and INE's CoFIF (container freight index futures). INE (International Energy Exchange) is the exchange that faces offshore traders/users under Shanghai Futures Exchange. Key findings: 1. CoFIF has liquidity while CFFA doesn't. Liquidity is probably 99.9% of the determining factors about whet
Asia-North Europe forward rate contracts on Shanghai’s CoFIF has traded at a discount of over 50% to the spot rate for over a month and last week’s SCFI drop triggered a further 4% decline in the CoFIF rates on 26 February. The drop has been widely anticipated after CoFIF’s April contracts edged up 4% on 19 February, the first trading day after the Chinese New Year holidays but quickly qave up the gains the next day before flat-lining for rest of the week on relatively low turnover with traders
The CoFIF end April forward contracts (EC2404) closed 4% higher on 19 February 2024 on lower trading volumes after the 11 day break for the Chinese New Year holidays. Although the latest SCFIS Asia-North Europe index dropped 3.5% compared to their pre-holiday levels to 3,246, it remains at a significant premium of current forward levels with EC2404 closing at 2,190. Traders are still digesting the impact of continued tensions in the Red Sea and the freight rates development over the last two we
CoFIF prices moved up on each of the 4 trading days last week before the Chinese New Year holidays before the market closed for its extended holiday on 9 Feb to 18 Feb. Traders were reluctant to hold on to their positions during extended market closure given the steep backwardation in the CoFIF market with forward prices still trading at a discount of up to 60% lower than current SCFIS prices. The Asia-North Europe April contracts (EC2404) closed at 2,108 compared to the most recent SCFIS level
Prices, turnover, and open interests across all forward Asia-North Europe CoFIF contracts fell last week, with the market still in steep backwardation as both spot and near-term contracts are priced higher than the longer dated contracts. The speculative activities have cooled in the CoFIF market as average turnover dropped by 38% WoW to reach a level lower than the open interests for the first time since CoFIF was launched in August 2023. In comparison, the futures’ turnovers in CME are usually
The CoFIF market went into steeper backwardation as the spot SCFIS went up 12% WoW while the CoFIF contracts were down about 4-6% WoW across the board. Liquidation of the Open Interest continued but on a slower pace than previous weeks. There are indications that rates are peaking as the market looks beyond the current tight market to the expected rate correction post-Chinese New year, with the SCFI registering its first drop last week after 8 consecutive weekly hikes. Spot freight rates compi
It has been a volatile week in the CoFIF market that saw a limit-down day last Tuesday (9 Jan) and a big rally on Friday (12 Jan). Nevertheless, liquidation in the CoFIF market continued for the 3rd week albeit at slower pace. Open interests in CoFIF peaked on 22 December and have since fallen 69%. Further volatile trading is expected this week after the SCFI’s 8.1% gain on the Asia-North Europe route and the SCFIS which jumped by a further 49.7% on 15 Jan after the previous week’s 70.9% rise.