Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange drops further

UNITED STATES July 25 2016 3:06 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities dropped further on Friday mainly on lower cape, panamax and supramax rates.

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 08 points to 718 points on Friday.

Shipping companies have been struggling since the Great Recession zapped demand to transport raw materials around the world. While the economy has staged a solid rebound since the recession, shipping companies and the Baltic Dry Index have struggled as an oversupply of ships has pinned down hire rates.

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.