Baltic Sea Freight Index at All-time Low
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index slid to an all-time low on Monday as sluggish cargo demand especially from China battered sentiment, according to data on Monday from the Baltic Exchange in London.
The overall index was down 5 points, or 0.89 percent, at 554 points, the lowest level for which Baltic data is available that dates back to January 1985. The Index is tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities. It gauges the cost of shipping resources including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertilizer.
The index, also seen by investors as an indicator of global industrial activity, last touched this level in August 1986.
Hartland Shipping Services consultants said that they are all shocked at how bulk carrier earnings have collapsed this year. It was not supposed to happen this way. This has left owners trading ships at well below operating costs, further draining their already depleted cash resources and fading equity.
China’s seaborne coal imports slid 10 percent in 2014, reversing growth of 16 percent the year before, according to Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker.
