Baltic Dry Index Jumps to 960 Points

The Baltic Dry Index rose to 960 points on Friday, September 18th, marking an 8,72 percent rise or a jump by 77 points from Thursday, which also marked a 69 points climb, according to the Baltic Exchange in London.

Average spot rates for Capesizes were up by USD 2,782 from the previous USD 14,658 and average Panamax rates were up by USD 212. However, the Supramax rates marked a dip of USD 99 from USD 7,972, based on the data from September 18th.

The two-day hike, the biggest one in sever years, has been assigned to demand from China which continues to be the driving force with respect to purchasing of iron. Specifically, the rates went up amid market speculation that the demand from China would eat up the vessel oversupply in the dry-bulk shipping market.

Overall, the London-based index jumped 18 percent, with 16 percent increase in rates for capesize vessels that ship iron ore from Brazil to China.

“There’s a misunderstanding among investors that China isn’t buying iron ore: it is,” Jeffrey Landsberg, the managing director of Commodore Research in New York, told Bloomberg. “China is still buying every single ton that global miners want to sell.”

Based on Bloomberg’s data, China imported an average of 76.67 million metric tons of iron ore a month this year, exceeding all other countries’ figures and keeping more or less in line with the stats form 2014.

The rise in the BDI brings a ray of sunshine for the oversupplied dry bulk shipping market that saw rates plummet to their lowest in February this year pushing dry bulk shipping companies’ profits down and causing losses across the board.

World Maritime News Staff