India, Feb. 22 -- Global markets often look unpredictable, but some of the earliest warning signs don't come from stock charts or economic data. Instead, they quietly appear in a lesser-known corner of the real economy where the movement of raw materials reveals what businesses are really expecting. Hidden inside shipping rates and freight markets is a signal that has historically shifted well before headlines catch up, offering clues about where growth or trouble may be heading next.

Understanding Shipping Futures Forward Freight Agreements, or FFAs, are financial contracts that allow participants to manage or trade the future price of freight, which is the cost of moving goods across oceans. Shipping rates can be highly volatile becaus...