Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange declines further to 1294 points

UNITED KINGDOM April 20 2017 1:04 PM
LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities dipped to 1294 points on Wednesday mainly on lower cape and panamax rate.

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 another 16 points to 1276 points on Wednesday.

Spring is a typical high demand period for the BDI as China stocks up on raw materials for summer building season and while harvest season gets underway. 

The summer can be a bit of a lull, but fall once again sees an uptick in demand for seaborne trade before winter. Depending on the year, the BDI may either peak in the spring or winter. This year, it looks like spring may be the BDI’s best season.