UNITED KINGDOM November 21 2016 1:32 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities gained further by 26 points on Friday driven by sharp increase in 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, gained another 26 points to 1,257 points on Friday.

The Baltic Dry Index has posted sharp gains over the past month, rising to its highest levels in nearly two years. The BDI settled at 1,257 points on Friday, having gained roughly 400 points over the past two weeks. 

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.