






UNITED KINGDOM February 01 2016 10:01 AM
LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities plummeted further to another record low level of 317 points on Friday mainly due to lower crude oil prices and the bleak demand outlook for raw commodities from China.
A slowdown in the Chinese economy, which grew at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century in 2015, and a huge over-capacity in vessels has kept the index exploring new all-time lows for most of 2016. The index has fallen over 10 percent last week.
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, fell by another 8 points to a historic low of 317 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 Friday, January 29 2016, when the index dropped to 317 points.
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