Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange falls to 963 points

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities fell on Friday mainly due to lower cape 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, dropped by 20 points to 963 points on Friday.
Market participants are cautiously optimistic about the BDI’s future, but anemic global economic growth is a major concern. 
China was largely responsible for the BDI recovering from its record low of 290 points reached last February, and heading into 2017 demand for raw materials, as it applies to the BDI, looks mixed.