UNITED KINGDOM March 13 2017 1:29 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities continued to gain to 1086 points on Friday mainly on 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, advanced by another 22 points to 1086 points on Friday.
The index bottomed at 685 points during its seasonal lull in February, but is now climbing due to iron ore shipments to China. As evidence of how much iron ore is hitting the seas and heading to China, iron ore stocks at China’s ports hit a new record on March 3.
Seaborne iron ore is transported on capesize ships. While right now this is supporting the BDI, there is the sentiment that iron ore demand from China is approaching a peak. If iron ore demand from China retreats, the BDI could experience pressure.