Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange drops further to 860 points

UNITED KINGDOM October 05 2016 3:21 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities dropped further o 860 points on Tuesday, after the shipping index fell late last week after rallying to 937 points, its highest price point since December 2014. 

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 further by 04 points to 860 points on Tuesday.

The Baltic Dry index, the leading measure of aggregate global shipping rates, ended the month of September on a high note after economic uncertainty and continued pressure on crude oil prices kept the index suppressed for much of the second and third quarters.

The September surge was primarily attributed to both consolidation within the industry, either through bankruptcy or merger, and the seasonal nature of the index which typically sees a relative increase heading into the fourth quarter.