UNITED KINGDOM April 10 2017 2:31 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities advanced to 1223 points on Friday boosted by higher 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 08 points to 1223 points on Friday.

The prices of the most popular dry-bulk carriers have posted an increase of 20 percent within just one month, which according to ship-brokers Intermodal is an impressive hike. This concerns modern ships that traditionally concentrate the bulk of demand – particularly among Greek shipowners.

This price hike is due to the significant recovery of rates in the dry-bulk market (wheat, iron ore, coal and other raw materials) in the first quarter of 2017 compared to a year earlier. The Baltic Dry Index soared to 1,297 points in March, a 28-month high, although it has since slid due to delays in cargoes from Australia.