# Sickness Spreads Through Freight Markets

> Dry bulk freight rates fell to their lowest since March 2016 as freight demand from China collapsed during the Lunar New Year lull. The Baltic Dry Index dipped to 415 on February 7 and has recovered only slightly, and Capesize rates have turned negative.

- Date: 2020-02-26 · published 2020-02-26T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region China · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/54524-sickness-spreads-through-freight-markets
- Commodities: [Ocean Grain Freight](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OCEANFRT.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

Ocean freight for soybeans and grain is cheap, which lowers the landed cost of imported feed ingredients. Weak shipping demand from China also points to lower Chinese import demand for soybeans.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bearish ▼
- OCEANFRT: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SOY | 2025-06-05 | [MID-SHIP Report: Dry Bulk Freight Market - June 5 2025 - MID-SHIP Group](https://feedsoft.ai/events/24401-mid-ship-report-dry-bulk-freight-market-june-5-2025-mid-ship-group.md) | +0.5% | +1.1% |
| SOY | 2019-06-18 | [Mississippi flooding's impact on freight, economy spreads downstream - FreightWaves](https://feedsoft.ai/events/58793-mississippi-flooding-s-impact-on-freight-economy-spreads-downstream-freightwaves.md) | -0.4% | -2.7% |
| SOY | 2026-10-18 | [Global Grain Freight Costs Surge as Shipping Disruptions Threaten U.S. Export Competitiveness](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16761-global-grain-freight-costs-surge-as-shipping-disruptions-threaten-u-s-export.md) | -0.4% | — |
| SOY | 2023-04-03 | [Drought, Low River Water Levels, and Local Soybean Markets: The Role of Physical and Economic Distance - farmdoc daily](https://feedsoft.ai/events/13283-drought-low-river-water-levels-and-local-soybean-markets-the-role-of-physical.md) | -1.2% | -3.4% |
| SOY | 2024-08-26 | [Morning Coffee & Ag Markets](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16517-morning-coffee-and-ag-markets.md) | +3.2% | +9.2% |

## Sources

- dtnpf.com: https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2020/02/26/sickness-spreads-freight-markets

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.