Shanghai Shipping Exchange has launched a new Shanghai (Export) Container Freight Index (SCFI), Xinhua reported.

The index was first developed in 2005 but has been modified to have a starting point of 1,000 based on 16 October 2009 calculations. Freight data is provided by 30 members, and each Friday the exchange will compile and publicise the new SCFI and spot rates of 15 international routes. By showing the market freight rates of individual routes, the index is designed to be more straightforward and understandable to users.

In 1998, the exchange started the China (Export) Container Freight Index, which it claims has since become the most authoritative freight index after the Baltic Dry Bulk Index. Three years later, in 2001, it launched the China (coastal) Bulk Freight Index.