Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange slips to 642 points

UNITED KINGDOM May 19 2016 2:38 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities slipped to 642 points level on Wednesday due to stronger rates for capesize 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 1 points to 643 points on Wednesday.

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.