Bulk Carrier Freight Index Declines... Entering a Pause Phase

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The bulk index, a key indicator of the shipping industry, has been on a decline for nearly a week.

According to the shipping industry on the 31st, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which serves as the benchmark for bulk carrier freight rates, recorded 1,470 points as of the 28th. This marks a continuous decline for five days from 1,837 points recorded on the 21st.

The Baltic Capesize Index (BCI), which indicates the freight rates for Capesize bulk carriers (vessels over 80,000 DWT) mainly transporting iron ore, closed at 1,945 points, down 200 points from the previous trading day.

The industry expects that the volume has decreased ahead of China's Lunar New Year, and demand has sharply dropped due to worsening steel production margins.

The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), a container ship freight rate indicator, also continued its decline for two consecutive weeks.

According to the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, the SCFI stood at 2,861.69 points as of the 29th, down 7.27 points from the previous week. The SCFI index began to decline after reaching its peak of 2,885 points on the 15th, falling for two consecutive weeks.

The freight rate on the major Asia-North Europe route recorded $4,276 per TEU (one 6m container), down $117 from the previous week. The Asia-North America East Coast route freight rate fell $71 to $4,679 per FEU (one 12m container).

The industry assessed that the recent upward trend in container ship freight rates and the reduced cargo volume ahead of the Lunar New Year have influenced the decline. However, considering that freight rates are still near their peak, the drop is not expected to be significant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.