Baltic Dry Index Hits Near Three-Year High

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday September 12, 2017

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) reached 1,355 on Monday, the highest the index has been since November 2014.

"Capesize dry bulkers have maintained momentum through the weekend with assessed earnings touching a new multi-year high," TradeWinds quoted Clarksons Platou Securities Monday as saying.

Tuesday ended the day slightly down, however, with the BDI dropping 11 points.

While average spot TC rates in the Capesize segment fell $889 today to average earnings of $19,942, both the Panamax and Supramax segments saw an increase to average earnings of $11,477 per day (+$285) and $10,025 per day (+$72), respectively.

"The spark in trade that lit the market on fire in the midst of the summer period seems to be still firmly driving the market," said George Lazaridis, Head of Research and Valuations at ‎Allied Shipbroking Inc. (Allied), in his most recent weekly market report.

"Most of the market increase has been driven by the increased activity noted in the coal and iron ore trade, with China having driven this demand as they ramped up operations and kept their production levels at an all-time high."

As Ship & Bunker previously reported, the BDI only broke the 1000 point mark for the first time this year on March 7.

Ship & Bunker News Team
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com