Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange ends a week of consecutive drop

UNITED KINGDOM May 30 2016 2:45 PM     

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main  sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities  ended a week of consecutive drop on Friday due to higher demand for larger  vessel segments.

The Baltic Dry Index, which provides an assessment of  the price of moving the major raw materials – such as coal, iron ore and grain –  by sea by taking in 23 shipping routes measured on a time charter basis, up by 5  points to 606 points on Friday.

The index is based on a daily survey of  agents all over the world. Baltic Dry hit a temporary peak on May 20, 2008, when  the index hit 11,793. The lowest level ever reached was on February 10 2016,  when the index plummeted to 290 points.