Forward Freight Agreements initially appeared in 1991 which was developed by H. Clarkson and Co. Ltd. However, the use increased after 2000 and it has gained popularity ever since. FFAs were initially negotiated Over the Counter (OTC) and not in a politician exchange market and this made them more popular since these contracts were more specific and tailor-made as compared to setting a selected index only, as happened in BIFFEX.
However, after a couple of years of their use, organized exchanges and trading platforms also appeared which is why we now see both exchange-traded and OTC-traded FFAs. For buying or selling FFAs, there are broking companies who concentrate on this service and have registered staff.
