Freightos Baltic Index (FBX):
Global Container Price Index

FBX stands for Freightos Baltic Index. It is the leading international Freight Rate Index, in cooperation with the Baltic Exchange, providing freight market rates for 40′ containers (FEUs). You can learn more about the FBX by reading the Baltic Exchange’s Guide to FBX, including the benchmarking methodology, available here.

Unlike other freight indices, FBX are based on aggregated and anonymized real-time business data from global freight carriers, freight forwarders, and shippers that use the WebCargo by Freightos freight rate management platform. That’s why we believe our freight index to be the most accurate real-time representation of market rates available. The rates are not polled or tweaked in any way, shape or form – they derive from the same live rates that top tier logistics providers are using commercially.

Prices used in the index are rolling short term Freight All Kind (FAK) spot tariffs and related surcharges between carriers, freight forwarders and high-volume shippers. Index values are calculated by taking the median price for all prices (to ignore the influence of outliers on active lanes) with weighting by carrier. 50 to 70 million price points are collected every month. The daily freight rate index is published in a “sliding window” containing the relevant data that are effective and not expired from 00:00 UTC on the day before publication to 24:00 UTC on the day of publication, meaning 48 hours in total starting from 00:00 yesterday. Only rates created or modified within the last 3 months and valid during those 48 hours will be included (in practice on most trade lanes rates are volatile and almost all rates are much newer than 3 months). Rates are calculated at 06:00 UTC and published at 14:00 UTC. The weekly freight index is calculated as an average of the five business days from the same week and published each Friday.

There are twelve trade lanes covered by the Freightos Baltic Index. They are:
–  FBX 01 CHINA/EAST ASIA TO NORTH AMERICA WEST COAST
–  FBX 02 NORTH AMERICA WEST COAST – CHINA/EAST ASIA
–  FBX 03 CHINA/EAST ASIA – NORTH AMERICA EAST COAST
–  FBX 04 NORTH AMERICA EAST COAST – CHINA/EAST ASIA
–  FBX 11 CHINA/EAST ASIA TO NORTH EUROPE
–  FBX 12 NORTH EUROPE – CHINA/EAST ASIA
–  FBX 13 CHINA/EAST ASIA TO MEDITERRANEAN
–  FBX 14 MEDITERRANEAN TO CHINA/EAST ASIA
–  FBX 21 NORTH AMERICA EAST COAST TO NORTH EUROPE
–  FBX 22 NORTH EUROPE – NORTH AMERICA EAST COAST
–  FBX 24 EUROPE – SOUTH AMERICA EAST COAST
–  FBX 26 EUROPE – SOUTH AMERICA WEST COAST

A freight rate index collects pricing information from multiple carriers, shippers or forwarders at regular intervals to calculate a benchmark or market rate for freight for any given shipping lane and provide visibility into freight rates for interested parties. FBX freight rate data is aggregated and anonymized from live business databases with tens of millions of price points updated on a daily basis. Freightos’ vast database enables a high level of accuracy in calculating the market rate, and includes precise ocean freight rate historical charts. FBX coverage includes core routes to and from China as well as many other major global routes. The FBX is the only daily freight rate index and is also the only freight index that is IOSCO compliant and regulated by the EU. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI) was created by the Chinese government in 2005 and is operated by the Shanghai Shipping Exchange. As of 2010, oversight of the accuracy of the SCFI is provided by KPMG. In contrast to FBX, the SCFI is only reported once a week, and only covers spot rates for export from Shanghai to 15 ports around the world. These rates include port-to-port charges and associated ocean surcharges. While FBX data is based on live business databases from multiple global freight forwarders, SCFI rates are collected through a weekly survey of SCFI panelists, 20 carriers and 17 shippers or forwarders. Access to some FBX metrics are free, as part of our effort to make global trade more transparent, while data exports and more granular data are available with a paid account. Our Ocean Freight Rate Index makes it easy to monitor ocean freight benchmark performance relative to the industry.

Freightos’ FBX data is available to subscribers on the Freightos website and via Thomson Reuters Eikon screen. It is also updated weekly on the JOC’s Market Data portal, pulled weekly into TI Insight’s GSCi market intelligence platform. Besides viewing charts, you can download csv files or png charts. If you are a journalist, analyst, or armchair logistics buff, contact [email protected] if you’re interested in a CSV version of data.

The Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) stands out by offering a daily, transparent, and neutral benchmark for global ocean freight rates and data. Unlike some indices that rely on contracted rates or limited data sources, the FBX reflects actual market prices by using aggregated and anonymized real-time business data from global freight carriers, freight forwarders, and shippers that use the WebCargo by Freightos freight rate management platform. It’s calculated in conjunction with the Baltic Exchange, ensuring a trusted methodology and governance. Updated daily and published weekly on the Baltic Exchange, the FBX enables accurate benchmarking, reliable market analysis, and timely decision-making across the supply chain.