Dry bulk market shows signs of recovery

THE dry bulk market slump is expected to continue into this quarter due to the uncertainties in demand of iron ore transportation although it has shown slight signs of revival in mid-December.

Last year, the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), the barometer of shipping cost for commodities, fell 93.4% from its peak of 11,793 points on May 20 to 774 points on Dec 24. From its lowest point of 663 points on Dec 5, the BDI had shown marginal increase of 26.1% to 836 points on Dec 17. This was then supported by the sentiment of iron ore demand. China, the world’s biggest steelmaker, imported 32.5 million tonnes of iron ore in November, up 6.2% from October Some experts predicted that the dry bulk rates were likely to recover this year when China replenished its dwindling iron-ore inventory and demand for thermal coal started to pick up.

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