LONDON (Scrap Register): The main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange for ships carrying dry bulk commodities plunged to 1361 points on Thursday mainly on lower cape, supramax and panamax 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, down by another 13 points to 1361 points on Thursday.
The level of the Baltic Dry Index is often a function of economic expansion or contraction around the world. During periods of economic growth, infrastructure building tends to increase demand for the raw materials that are basic building blocks for construction.
At these times, production of essential industrial commodities increases to meet accelerating demand.
