Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading provider of financial market technology and data, announced its plan to introduce four new container freight futures contracts. These U.
S.-denominated, cash-settled contracts are expected to launch on April 7, 2026, subject to regulatory approval, and are designed to provide the market with tools for managing container freight risk.\n\nThese futures will be indexed to the New York Shipping Exchange’s (NYSHEX) Freight Indices (NYFI) price assessments. NYSHEX provides benchmarks for containerized freight pricing, based on actual shipped transactions, applying consistent weighting across verified shipping trade routes. ICE Data Services has served as the calculation agent for the NYSHEX Indices since 2024.\n\nThe four specific contracts include the ICE Container FFA – Asia to US West Coast 40GP/HC (NYFI) Future, ICE Container FFA – Asia to US East Coast 40GP/HC (NYFI) Future, ICE Container FFA – Asia to North Europe 40GP/HC (NYFI) Future, and ICE Container FFA – North Europe to US East Coast 40GP/HC (NYFI) Future.\n\nJeff Barbuto, Senior Vice President of Global Oil Markets at ICE, stated that these global container freight derivatives represent a new offering for ICE, enhancing risk management in the shipping industry. He added that the contracts would be supported by ICE’s extensive network of liquid energy markets, which he described as the largest globally, providing tools to manage volatility across supply chains.\n\nGordon Downes, CEO and co-founder of NYSHEX, highlighted the significant size and critical nature of the container shipping industry, noting its inherent volatility. Downes emphasized that the launch of ICE’s new freight futures would enable market participants to more easily hedge against market price fluctuations. He also asserted that NYFI is the most accurate container freight index due to its basis in actual shipped transactions, ensuring futures settlement reflects prices paid in the spot market.\n\nThese new NYSHEX container freight contracts will be part of ICE’s broader global oil markets portfolio, which includes benchmarks such as ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil. ICE’s total oil market recorded an open interest of 18.7 million contracts as of February 23, 2026. Additionally, ICE Wet Freight futures and options markets achieved a record open interest of 201,000 contracts on February 27, 2026.
