Why we should care about the Baltic Dry IndexDespite its shortcomings, the Baltic Dry Index is still a useful measure.For example, while it was slow to signal troubling times in 2008, its rise in ...

The Baltic Dry Index is an economic indicator. It takes an assessment of nearly two dozen major shipping routes to gauge the rate of ships carrying dry commodity goods like coal, iron ore, and grain.

Why we should care about the Baltic Dry Index Despite its shortcomings, the Baltic Dry Index is still a useful measure. For example, while it was slow to signal troubling times in 2008, its rise ...

The Baltic Dry Index is now down to 293, near 50% down on a year ago and almost 40% down just so far this year. This does not though, despite a remarkable amount of panicking over it, ...

But on the simplest economic level, the Baltic Dry Index measures supply and demand on a worldwide scale. When the BDI falls, it reflects falling global commodities sales and shipping prices.

The Index is compiled in London by the Baltic Exchange, the world’s biggest source of maritime market information. It records the cost of shipping dry, bulk commodities, like iron ore, coal, and ...

Tuesday's close lower on the Baltic Dry Index marked the thirty-third consecutive decline of the index, an indication of the daily rate for a ship carrying dry bulk goods such as grain, coal and ...

The Baltic Dry Index is a composite of three subindices that measure different sizes of dry bulk carriers, or merchant ships: Capesize, Panamax and Supramax.

Since the Baltic Dry Index débuted, in 1985, economists of all stripes have routinely consulted it as a trusted proxy for trade activity. Photograph by Carlos Jasso / REUTERS ...

The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks freight rates for ships carrying raw materials, has slumped to its lowest point in 29 years, hit by a shipping glut, falling commodity prices and declining ...