The launch of the Forward Freight Agreement (FFA) for the Baltic’s TD34 route (Gulf of Oman to China) by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has seen near-record volumes since its launch on 5 October. The cash-settled freight futures contract, based on the Baltic Exchange’s TD34 price assessments, has been embraced by tanker freight traders from the outset, underlining TD34’s rapid emergence as a popular new route for the market.

According to Baltic Exchange, 3,837 trades were made on ICE for the new TD34 FFA in its first five days of trading (5–9 October). By comparison, the TD3C FFA (Middle East Gulf to China) recorded 2,989 trades on ICE during the same period.

With TD34 FFA trades outperforming the established TD3C contract by more than 128% in its first week, the newly launched FFA contract on ICE reflects the market's strong confidence in TD34 as an additional reference point for Middle East Gulf VLCC rates.

“TD3C has long been one of the most liquid tanker routes in the market so to see TD34 FFA volumes surpass these levels so quickly after the new FFA contract launched on ICE earlier this month shows significant demand for additional hedging instruments on Middle East Gulf tanker routes,” said Stephen Aitchison, Senior Freight Market Assessor at Baltic Exchange.

“Crucially, the strong early liquidity for the newly launched FFA demonstrates that the Baltic’s TD34 route has quickly established itself as a relevant benchmark in the Middle East Gulf,” he added.

The Baltic’s TD34 (assessed on a 270,000 mt basis from Mina al Fahal (Gulf of Oman) to Ningbo, China) route went live in June 2026 in direct response to market demand for transparency and a commercially viable reference point to assess freight rates for VLCCs loading outside the Arabian Gulf.

In addition to the newly launched TD34 FFA, ICE also launched a new VLCC freight futures product for TD15 (West Africa to China) on 5 October, which is also cash-settled based on Baltic Exchange's TD15 price assessments.

Both the TD34 and TD15 freight futures contracts are now available for clearing through ICE, with daily assessments published by Baltic Exchange.

“With global disruption continuing to drive volatility in VLCC rates, the launch of the TD34 and TD15 FFAs on ICE will go a long way to giving the market the tools it needs to manage freight risk with confidence, supported at every stage by the Baltic Exchange's independent price assessments," said Aitchison.