Shipbrokers Challenge Baltic Exchange

By Aiswarya Lakshmi June 19, 2016

Several key dry bulk shipbrokers have formed the Competitive Ship Brokers Limited (CSBL) to challenge the Baltic Exchange over their role in the market as it tries to sell itself to the Singaporean financial giant SGX, reports the Telegraph.

Eleven-member CSBL formed to campaign for better terms for providing the daily data that forms its lucrative cargo indices including the Baltic Dry, which is used as a bellwether for global trade.

The Baltic Exchange provides freight indices to the dry bulk and tanker shipping markets that operate on a panellist system on which these shipbrokers and others sit.

The Baltic, which opened exclusive takeover talks with SGX last month, wants to put its panellists on a formal contract to provide data, compensating them by waiving membership fees.

As part of the merger process with SGX , the Baltic Exchange has distributed a more restrictive agreement that would stop panellists from providing data to third parties.

“This is not just about being paid for the data that we provide, it's about the future of the shipping and shipbroking industries. Emphatically we're not trying to derail the sale to SGX – perhaps SGX might even be a better environment for these indices,” said Jeremy Palin of Arrow Shipping, one of the founders of CSBL.

CSBL also complains that the document was presented without consultation with the panellists.

The Baltic is currently owned by a collection of 280 shareholders, some of whom also contribute data to the indices.

Executives are visiting stakeholders in Singapore, Copenhagen and elsewhere to discuss the transaction as part of a four-week round of exclusive talks with SGX abou the $100m takeover.