Freehills, I think Cathay’s hedging has corrupted/confused your idea of hedging.
Hedging is where you invest to offset or reduce a risk.
Insurance is where you pay someone else to assume the risk for you.
In both cases the investment or premium are supposed to be less than your potential losses. In Cathay’s case they have lost far more than they ever would have if they’d bought on the spot market.
Hence it’s not been hedging- it’s been gambling.