LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities closed the year 2016 at 961 points on Monday mainly due to higher cape index.
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, advanced sharply by 33 points to 961 points on Monday.
There is cautious optimism heading into 2017 with the BDI’s price up significantly from a year ago due to increased demand to transport goods. 
Through the first part of 2017, the BDI should remain supported by China’s continued infrastructure development, which will increase demand to ship raw materials. There is also some optimism over economic growth in other regions of the country.
When it comes to shipping demand, there could be a slowdown in the second half of the year, but shippers are not expecting the BDI to see a drop-off in demand like it did late last year. That demand collapse resulted in the BDI hitting a record-low price in February 2016.