LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities shot up to above 900 points on Thursday boosted 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, rose by 33 points to 904 points on Thursday.
Recently, the BDI has been supported by higher rates for smaller ships, but as China’s business activity has ramped following the Lunar New Year holiday, capesize rates have joined in on the rally.
Entering 2017 there was some cautious optimism about the BDI’s future, and so far it seems that this optimism will pan out. The index has just gone through its period of weak seasonal demand and is now starting to ascend.