UNITED KINGDOM March 31 2017 12:36 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities declined to 1324 points on Thursday led by 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, down by 14 points to 1324 points on Thursday.

After years in the doldrums, bullish investors have started to bet on a recovery in the demand for dry bulk vessels. 

The Baltic Dry Bulk Index (BDI), which measures overall demand for bulk carriers across different ship sizes as well as a variety of commodities transported on such vessels, has risen 340% over the past one year.