# Main sea freight index at Baltic Exchange plunges to below 800 points - Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)

> The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks dry bulk shipping rates for coal, iron ore and grain, fell 14 points to 786 on Wednesday. It has dropped since China's Lunar New Year holiday reduced raw material imports, and it fell 17% in January. Panamax rates bucked the trend by rising on stronger grain trade.

- Date: 2017-02-03 · published 2017-02-03T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region Global · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/72386-main-sea-freight-index-at-baltic-exchange-plunges-to-below-800-points-shanghai
- Commodities: [Ocean Grain Freight](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OCEANFRT.md)

## Why it matters

Lower dry bulk freight rates reduce the cost of moving grain to buyers, which can narrow export FOB spreads and weigh on ocean freight markets. Weak Chinese import demand is bearish for bulk commodity shipping.

## Read by commodity

- OCEANFRT: bearish ▼

## Sources

- news.metal.com: https://news.metal.com/newscontent/100721619-main-sea-freight-index-at-baltic-exchange-plunges-to-below-800-points

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