Baltic Dry Index At 1709, Down 4.5%
As I wrote in Dry Bulk Weekly it appears that Chinese removal of steel export tax rebates is a complete game changer for the industry. The slowdown in Chinese iron ore imports is easing port congestion which tied approximately 20% of the world fleet a few weeks ago. The port congestion has since then eased by a third. New-building deliveries were also strong in the first half of the year. All this has change the dry bulk demand/supply balance really fast. It’s hard to imagine a recovery in rates with this kind of fundamentals setup.
Chart 1. Baltic Dry Index
Source: Bloomberg