Container shipping is a $120+ billion annual market that moves 80% of global trade, yet until now, it has had virtually no listed hedging infrastructure outside China. Euronext Container Freight Futures (CFF) fill this gap, giving shippers, forwarders, carriers and financial participants a regulated, transparent tool to manage freight rate risk.
The challenge: unprecedented freight rate volatility
The container shipping industry has experienced a decade of extraordinary price swings that have reshaped supply chain economics worldwide.
During 2020-2021, the cost of a 40-foot container unit from Shanghai to Rotterdam saw a ninefold increase within just 18 months: from approximately $1,500 to over $14,000. The Red Sea crisis in 2024 drove another major spike, with the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index averaging 2,496 points, up 149% year-on-year. Container shipping prices rose to five times the 2011-2019 average when reckoning with COVID-19 supply chain bottlenecks.
The pattern is structural, not temporary. Geopolitical tensions, trade policy shifts, fleet capacity cycles and seasonal demand imbalances have made freight rate volatility the new normal. Yet unlike energy, metals, and agriculture, industries that have hedged for decades, container freight has remained largely unmanaged.
Today, the container freight industry is where the energy industry was in the early 1980s; every participant carries rate exposure, but almost none manage it with listed derivatives.
The market opportunity
Container shipping at a glance
- Global market valued at approximately $120 billion in 2025
- Over 183 million TEUs handled globally in 2024, with 6% annual growth[1][OF1]
- 80% of international trade by volume moves by sea.
The hedging gap
Airlines hedge jet fuel. Steel producers hedge iron ore. Yet container freight? Almost entirely unhedged.
China's INE SCFIS futures proved the model works, with daily turnover reaching $100 million to $2 billion. But international participants lacked access due to different time zones, currency and regulatory frameworks. Euronext CFFs fill this gap with USD-denominated contracts, European trading hours and full MiFID II compliance.
What are Euronext Container Freight Futures?
Euronext CFFs are the first European listed derivatives for container shipping rates. Here are the key specifications:
- Exchange: Euronext Amsterdam
- Trading hours: 07:00–18:30 CET, covering European and US business hours
- Settlement: cash-settled in USD against the Xeneta Shipping Index by Compass (XSI®-C)
- Maturities: 18 consecutive monthly expiries providing an 18-month forward curve
- Clearing: centrally cleared through Euronext Clearing, eliminating bilateral counterparty risk
- Lot size: 5 FEU per contract
- Minimum tick: $1 USD per FEU
- Regulation: MiFID II compliant and eligible for hedge accounting under IFRS 9.
Four route-specific contracts
Euronext CFFs cover the world's largest container trade lanes with four independently priced and traded contracts:
- FENE (Far East → North Europe): the flagship route and highest-volume lane globally
- FEUW (Far East → US West Coast): the transpacific headhaul, highly sensitive to peak season dynamics
- NEFE (North Europe → Far East): the backhaul route serving European exporters
- NEUE (North Europe → US East Coast): the transatlantic corridor for industrial cargo.
All four contracts share the same structure: 5 FEU lot size, USD cash settlement, 18 monthly maturities, and central clearing. This allows participants to hedge specific route exposure with precision.
How Container Freight Futures work
The mechanism is straightforward. Participants buy or sell futures contracts at a price reflecting expected future freight rates. At expiry, contracts are cash-settled based on the XSI®-C index value – no physical delivery of containers is required. Euronext Clearing acts as the central counterparty, guaranteeing every trade.
Two ways to trade
- Screen trading: place orders directly on Euronext's electronic order book via any connected trading platform
- Exchange for Swaps (EFS): negotiate off-screen with a broker, then register the trade on Euronext for central clearing. This is ideal for physical participants new to exchange trading.
Daily settlement prices are published on Bloomberg, Refinitiv, and Xeneta platforms, creating the first publicly visible forward curve for international container shipping.
The underlying benchmark: XSI®-C
The Xeneta Shipping Index by Compass (XSI®-C) is the regulated daily benchmark underpinning all CFF contracts. Key features include:
- Co-developed by Xeneta and Compass Financial Technologies
- Fully compliant with the EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR)
- Built on over 600 million contracted freight rates from leading global shippers and forwarders
- Represents over $20 billion in annual ocean freight spend
- Published daily at 18:00 CET
- Trusted by major corporations including ABB, Electrolux, Continental, Unilever and Nestlé.
Who are Container Freight Futures for?
CFF are designed for the full spectrum of freight market participants:
- Shippers and BCOs:[2] protect logistics budgets against rate spikes and lock in forward rates for procurement planning
- Freight forwarders and NVOCCs:[3] hedge the gap between buy-side capacity commitments and sell-side customer pricing
- Ocean carriers: manage revenue risk on backhaul routes and lock in forward revenue for capacity planning
- Logistics procurement teams: use the forward curve to inform tender negotiations and annual contract strategy
- Investors and trading firms: access a new uncorrelated asset class with full transparency.
CFFs in the competitive landscape
CFF vs. INE SCFIS (China)
The two products are complementary, not competing. Consider the situation analogous to Brent vs. WTI in oil markets. SCFIS is RMB-denominated, trades in Asian hours, and serves China's domestic market. CFF, in contrast, is USD-denominated, trades in European hours, and targets international participants under an EU regulatory framework.
CFF vs. OTC Freight Forwards
Central clearing eliminates counterparty risk without requiring ISDA documentation or bilateral CSAs. Full order book transparency replaces opaque broker-mediated OTC quotes, and standardised contracts offer consistent liquidity versus bespoke bilateral deals.
Key launch details
- Launch date: 8 April 2026
- Liquidity provider programme: active from Day 1
- Confirmed clearing members: StoneX, Marex
- Contact: freight@euronext.com
Download the full CFF Everything you need to know kit (PDF) for complete specifications, key facts, and contact information.
[1] TEU = Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit.
[2] BCO = Beneficial Cargo Holder.
[3] NVOCC = Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier.
[OF1]As we have explained FEUs in a previous article, it makes sense to do the same for TEUs