UNITED KINGDOM July 31 2017 12:38 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities fell further to below 933 points on Friday mainly due to a drop in 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, declined by another 26 points to 933 points on Friday.

After an admittedly challenging 2016, the Dry Bulk market kicked off this year on a much more positive note, with all indices steadily increasing until the end of March market peak. 

During the second quarter and until the beginning of this month, the freight market witnessed pressure, which was more evident in Capesizes, with the BDI nonetheless resisting to break below 800 points. 

During the past couple of weeks, we have seen rates across the board steading and the Dry Bulk Index once again moving towards 1,000 points.