# Ocean freight index hits five-and-a-half year highs - Grainews

> The Baltic Dry Index settled at 2,011 points on July 16, its highest since January 2014, and the Panamax index reached 2,052. Demand from Brazilian iron ore shipments pulled larger panamax vessels, which are often used for grain, into tighter markets.

- Date: 2019-07-16 · published 2019-07-16T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region Global · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/57989-ocean-freight-index-hits-five-and-a-half-year-highs-grainews
- Commodities: [Ocean Grain Freight](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OCEANFRT.md), [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md)

## Why it matters

Rising panamax rates raise the cost of shipping grain and oilseeds from origin to buyers, which can widen export basis and weigh on competitiveness for Canadian and other distant origins.

## Read by commodity

- WHEAT: bearish ▼
- OCEANFRT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WHEAT | 2026-10-22 | [Rising Ocean Freight Raises Costs for U.S. Grain - RFD-TV](https://feedsoft.ai/events/17245-rising-ocean-freight-raises-costs-for-u-s-grain-rfd-tv.md) | -0.7% | — |
| WHEAT | 2026-06-22 | [Decrease in Freight Rates for Ukrainian Grain Exports](https://feedsoft.ai/events/19023-decrease-in-freight-rates-for-ukrainian-grain-exports.md) | -1.4% | -1.0% |
| WHEAT | 2025-06-20 | [How the increase in Bosphorus tariffs will affect freight and competitiveness of Ukrainian grain](https://feedsoft.ai/events/24403-how-the-increase-in-bosphorus-tariffs-will-affect-freight-and-competitiveness.md) | -3.0% | -5.0% |
| WHEAT | 2025-12-08 | [Kazakh Grain Freight Halted to Novy Port - Dec 7-16 - Algoran Agro](https://feedsoft.ai/events/21505-kazakh-grain-freight-halted-to-novy-port-dec-7-16-algoran-agro.md) | -1.5% | -1.0% |
| WHEAT | 2024-11-18 | [Freight rates for grain transportation from Ukraine are decreasing \| Ukrainian and World Shipping News - Ukrainian Shipping Magazine - Ukrainian and World Shipping News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/16989-freight-rates-for-grain-transportation-from-ukraine-are-decreasing-ukrainian.md) | -0.6% | +0.3% |

## Sources

- grainews.ca: https://www.grainews.ca/daily/ocean-freight-index-hits-five-and-a-half-year-highs/

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