Due to the fact that there has been such a surge in Asia’s trade over recent years, the Baltic Exchange is planning on doubling Asian membership over the next two years. The trade-surge has been taking place for about 10 years, so it stands to reason that the Baltic would choose to do something about it. According to the Baltic’s new chairman, Quentin Sloanes, they want the number of Asian members to rise by 25 per cent in two years. At the moment, the number stands at around 10 – 15 per cent and the rise is expected to be possible.
The rise in Asia’s trading influence can be seen clearly in the following statistics, which should be interesting to those who follow this market closely, invest in ventures like bullionvault or simply like to keep track of what is going on in the world of trading. At the moment, Asia is involved with around 63 per cent of certain seaborne imports around the world. These imports include dry bulk commodities like coal and iron ore, as well as crude oil. This figure has risen from 45 per cent in May 2002, which is an impressive figure in itself.
At the moment, the Baltic has its base in London, with offices and a good amount of history in this area of the world. This is where ship captains used to arrange charters with merchants and generally organise many different ventures. However after this announcement, they will be making a bigger effort to integrate into Asia and to put a lot of energy into this area. Sloanes has said that they recognise Singapore as a “Far Eastern London”, which is why they are going to be doing everything they can to expand overseas and continue to grow.
