UNITED KINGDOM August 02 2017 12:58 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities gained further to 965 points on Tuesday mainly on higher cape, 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 19 points to 965 points on Tuesday.

The Baltic Dry Index has long been used as a leading economic indicator. Its status as a predictor of economic health makes sense. With the BDI a general measure of the demand to transport goods, when the BDI is rising demand to move goods is also increasing; therefore, the economy must be growing.