Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange shoots up 1262 points

UNITED STATES April 12 2017 2:37 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities continued to advanced to 1262 points on Tuesday led by higher panamax and supramax indices.

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 another 31 points to 1262 points on Tuesday.

The BDI should remain supported by high demand for capesize ships to transport raw materials into China during peak construction season while demand for softs amid harvest season should support higher hire rates for smaller ships. However, a supply disruption in Australia is exerting pressure.

A large cyclone hit Australia a few weeks ago, disrupting shipments from ports. According to Freight Investors Services, freight rates for large capesize dry cargo vessels on key Asian routes fell to multi-week lows last week, and are likely to remain depressed due to lower cargoes.