Baltic dry bulk freight index declines, shipping supply increases

According to news from London on March 17, the dry bulk freight index of the Baltic Trade Exchange declined for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, as the impact of the earthquake in Japan continued to suppress market sentiment.

The Baltic Dry Index fell by 0.33% or 5 points to 1,533 points. Before this week's decline, the index rose for 11 consecutive days. The index measures the transportation costs of iron ore, cement, grain, coal, and fertilizers.

Japan is a major importer of dry bulk commodities such as iron ore and coal.

Georgi Slavov, Head of Dry Bulk Research at ICAP Shipping, said: “At present, Japan’s impact on freight rates is mainly psychological.”

Slavov said: "Most steel mills refuse to declare force majeure because of the large throughput of Japanese ports."

The Baltic's capesize index fell by 2.41% on Thursday. The average daily profit fell for the fourth consecutive day to US$9,430. The usual consignment volume of a Capesize vessel is 150,000 tons and the cargo is mainly iron ore and coal.

Recent floods and hurricanes in Australia have damaged coal production, and many producers have already announced that they have encountered force majeure, which has damaged the cargo activities of Capesize and increased the disruption of the freight market.

Ilav's Slavov said: "Tonnage continues to increase, mainly due to the lack of cargo from Australia, which hurt the market."

Ship brokers and analysts said that in the future, dry bulk shipping charges may rise, as Japanese power plants restock coal and steel companies import more iron ore to increase damaged production.

Before the end of February, the Baltic dry bulk freight index fell for four consecutive days and hit a two-year low in February.

The Baltic's panamax index fell by 0.19%, and its daily average profit fell slightly to US$16,950. The type of ship usually carries between 6 and 70,000 tons and the main cargo is coal and grain.