Baltic Dry Index continues to stay below 700 points

UNITED KINGDOM February 15 2017 2:32 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities continued to stay below 700 points on Tuesday mainly due to lower cape and panamax 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, down by another 03 points to 685 points on Tuesday.

A retreat in the BDI is typical this time of year amid a seasonal slowdown in demand for raw materials, which in turn means reduced seaborne trade. 

Some restocking following the Lunar New Year holiday is typical, but so far that has not occurred and there is skepticism over whether it will occur at all this year due to the large amount of raw materials currently sitting at ports.