1. Actively participate in the freight derivatives market and accumulate experience.
China enterprises should actively participate in the international dry bulk freight derivatives market and accumulate relevant business operation experience. Economic globalization is an irresistible development trend, and China enterprises should also go international and participate in international market competition. The freight rate in the international dry bulk shipping market fluctuates greatly, so hedging with financial derivatives is particularly important for the long-term development of enterprises. China enterprises have not been involved in the dry bulk freight derivatives market for a long time, and they still lack experience in the application and operation of derivatives. They should actively participate in the international dry bulk cargo derivatives market, accumulate operating experience, better understand the market and operating system, adapt to the market, and enable enterprises to develop well in the dry bulk cargo business for a long time. At the same time, we can learn from the international enterprises that operate well in the forward freight market and learn from the mature operating experience of foreign related enterprises.
2. Rational use of financial derivatives.
China enterprises should not only actively participate in the freight derivatives market, but also make rational use of financial derivatives. When using dry bulk forward freight derivatives, we should carefully abide by the principle of hedging and hedge freight risks, and we should not blindly be bullish or bearish, let alone use freight derivatives as speculative tools, otherwise it is very likely to suffer double losses in the spot market and futures market. For example, China COSCO did a lot of FFA in 2007 and 2008, and did not seriously abide by the hedging principle, resulting in huge losses after 2008. Most shipping companies in the world have suffered losses in FFA business, and some even went bankrupt because of FFA's huge losses. Forward freight derivatives were originally designed to transfer risks. An enterprise cannot use derivatives as a speculative tool because of blind judgment, which will bring greater potential risks to the enterprise and make the whole enterprise face greater risks and losses. Therefore, when Chinese enterprises participate in the freight derivatives market, they should use derivatives rationally and operate in the market according to the basic principles of risk hedging and hedging, so as to bring stable income to enterprises.
3. Absorb and train professionals
Forward freight derivatives belong to financial derivatives. In the financial futures market, spot risk is transferred and hedged. Effective use of these derivatives requires professional financial talents. Professional financiers can better understand the use of financial derivatives, be familiar with the trading rules and operating systems of financial derivatives, and make better use of financial derivatives. Professionals in dry bulk forward freight derivatives market can be obtained in two ways, one is that enterprises directly attract and introduce experienced talents in this field, and the other is internal training. China's finance started late, the financial system is not perfect enough, there is no international financial center, and domestic high-end financial talents are relatively insufficient, especially those who are familiar with the international dry bulk forward freight derivatives market. China enterprises participating in the forward freight derivatives market should actively introduce domestic and foreign professionals and effectively use derivatives tools. At the same time, we will vigorously cultivate talents who operate freight derivatives in enterprises, and train internal personnel in financial knowledge, and gradually cultivate an excellent talent team that can operate in the freight derivatives market.
4. Establish an international shipping trading center and a freight derivative system.
China is a big shipping country now, but it is not a strong shipping country, and it has no strong influence on the international shipping market. The establishment of an international shipping trading center will help China to become a shipping power. It is necessary to have an index system that considers China's factors and influences, so as to better realize the hedging function of China enterprises participating in the freight derivatives market. The international clearing center for freight derivatives of dry bulk cargo is very important for countries participating in this market. However, at present, there is no such international clearing center for dry bulk freight derivatives in China. Only Shanghai Clearing House has started clearing the central counterparty of RMB forward freight agreement from 201210. The number of member companies participating in the clearing system is also very small, and this RMB FFA business is only clearing business, not a RMB-denominated FFA trading platform. China has been committed to building Shanghai into an international financial center and enhancing China's influence and pricing power in the international financial market. In the dry bulk forward freight market, China urgently needs to establish an international freight derivatives trading center and trading system, which is more conducive to China enterprises to participate in the dry bulk freight derivatives market and enhance the influence of China enterprises in this market.