China’s Imports of Commodities Drive a Boom in Dry-Bulk Shipping
China’s surging imports of metals, grain and other commodities are providing a boost to a bulk-shipping sector at the center of global industrial production.
Daily freight rates for capesize ships, the largest bulk carriers, jumped to an 18-month high this week at around $35,000 and the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the cost of moving commodities by sea, pushed to a 10-year high of 2,808 on Monday.
“It’s been a spectacular period, which is very much off-season,” said Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at maritime trading body Bimco. “Normally demand falls by around 9% from the fourth into the first quarter. We haven’t seen such demand in a very long time.”