Traders from all sectors of the freight and commodity futures market are demanding instant access to market prices and movements

London and Singapore, 19 May, 2020. Freight Investor Services, the global leader in freight and commodity derivatives, has launched FIS LIVE – a first of its kind pricing service for its global customer base.

From today, FIS will put live prices for dry freight, iron ore, fuel oil, steel, scrap, non-ferrous metals, coking coal and fertilizers into a new App to enable traders to access live flat and spread pricing in real time, on their mobile phone or desktop, in both English and Chinese language.

“FIS is constantly looking for new ways to serve our existing customers better and encourage new ones by providing easier access to real time information in a user friendly way,” said FIS Founder and Managing Director John Banaskiewicz. “With over 5 billion mobile devices in use around the world, the majority of them in Asia, Apps have become an integral part of working life, even more so in these challenging times. In volatile, unpredictable markets, having live prices at their fingertips will help our customers make better trading decisions – and hopefully make FIS Live the Candy Crush for commodities!”

The dry freight and commodity futures market continues to be broker-centric for trade execution and the new pricing service supports this process. FIS brokers can then focus on providing additional added value to customers who require background and context to the market.

Data on FIS LIVE is accessible anywhere and users can set price targets and receive alerts when bids or offers hit target levels when they are away from their desks. The service also includes charting of historical prices, technical analysis and markets news.

“Our customers in freight and iron ore are global and often working across multiple markets so we needed a new way to keep them informed of how their markets are moving,” adds FIS Head of Business Development, Kerry Deal. “FIS LIVE enables us to reach them from our broking floor wherever they are in the world.”

Commodities such as dry cargo, iron ore and crude and fuel oil have seen increasingly dramatic price swings as the market has coped with huge recent uncertainty.

In the first half of May, the tanker market has seen levels for Middle East Gulf-China cargoes moved between $51,882/day and $79,794/day. The index for Capesize dry bulk carriers (carrying iron ore) has moved between US$1,992 and US$7,263. Platts 62% iron ore contract has moved between $83.95/tonne and $96.15/tonne while IMO2020 compliant 0.5% sulfur fuel oil has seen values move between US$196.61/tonne and $234.98/tonne.

“In markets such as we’re experiencing at the moment, it’s not just data that is important, but the integrity of that data,” added FIS Managing Director of Strategy Alexander Pereira-Inacio. “FIS Live delivers in this aspect against the background of a secure and usable interface, combining our market expertise with a desire to stay forward-looking in uncertain times.”

Pricing data via FIS LIVE is available free of charge to verified FIS customers on a three-month trial basis. Other users can apply to FIS for access. Prices for wet tanker freight futures are due to be added in the near future.