UNITED KINGDOM May 09 2016 12:21 PM     

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main  sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities  continued to decline to 631 points on Friday mainly due to lower demand for  capesizes and smaller shipping vessels.

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, down by another 11 point to 631 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.

Since the BDI has staged a significant recovery. Factors that  have been driving the gains include the belief that the sell-off was overdone,  an increase in demand, and a decrease in ship supply due to some ship  scrapping.