​Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange declines further 656 points

UNITED KINGDOM August 01 2016 3:35 PM 

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities declined further of Friday as cape, panamax and supramax rates continued to drop.

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 09 points to 656 points on Friday.

In early summer the BDI was steady around 600 points but then it embarked upon a steep, and unexpected rally that pushed it well above 700 points. This surge just lost its support, and the BDI has been declining.

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.