Baltic Dry Index rises above 800 points

UNITED KINGDOM February 23 2017 2:33 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities rose above 800 points on Wednesday driven by higher 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 by 28 points to 806 points on Wednesday.

Many market players are optimistic about the maritime transportation growth in 2017. It is estimated that this growth may reach 10-15% mainly owing to an increase in container shipping.