Baltic Dry Index continues to fall to 918 points

UNITED KINGDOM May 26 2017 1:27 PM
LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities continued to fall to 918 points on Thursday driven by lower cape, panamax and supramax indices.

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, declined by another 16 point to 918 points on Thursday.

China is the global powerhouse when it comes to seaborne trade. The region’s demand for raw materials, combined with its geographic location and the fact that it does not produce enough raw materials domestically to meet its demand means that it has to import these goods and many of them are transported via the sea. 

If the country’s economy would stall it would spark disaster for the BDI. China put itself in this position by boosting its economy through expensive infrastructure stimulus programs funded with debt.