Volumes in the freight derivatives markets for both tankers and bulkers increased against a background of volatility in 2019.

According to data released by London's Baltic Exchange, tanker forward freight agreement (FFA) volumes were up 38% on the previous year, hitting 473,113 lots.

Dry FFAs reached 1.63m lots, up 11% on 2018.

A lot is defined as a day’s hire of a vessel or 1,000 metric tonnes of cargo.