Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange falls further to 957 points

UNITED KINGDOM May 19 2017 2:36 PM

LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities fell further to 957 points on Thursday mainly due to a drop in cape, 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, dropped by another 20 points to 957 points on Thursday.

According to Freight Investors Services, “nervousness” remains in the capesize market. Capesize ships transport primarily iron ore and coal, and it appears we have entered the seasonal slowdown for transporting these commodities into top consumer China.

Meanwhile, the market is awaiting more developments when it comes to China’s pledge to cut steel capacity and rein in pollution. These developments could translate into higher demand for seaborne imports, but high port stocks of raw materials could mean imports will not be immediately necessary.