A new Brazil-China dry cargo route goes live next week as the forward freight agreement (FFA) market revisits its roots.

The Panamax P8 route will enable users to trade and hedge grain and soybean voyages from 28 March. The trade is said to be booming, with the annual market for seaborne transport of soybeans at around 150 million tonnes.

Freight Investor Services (FIS), which has been championing the launch of the P8 route for more than a year, said 95 million tonnes of soybeans are thought to have been exported to China last year.