Thursday, January 27, 2011

Baltic Breakdown

So we sailed on to the sun
Till we found a sea of green
--The Beatles

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a price index of international oceanic shipping rates. When the BDI goes up, it implies generally higher prices to ship stuff via cargo vessels around the world.

Many market participants regard the BDI as an indicator of global trade. Higher BDIs imply stonger trade patterns.


During the 2008 credit market collapse, the BDI experienced a jaw-dropping decline--falling from over 11,000 to under 1000 in just a few months.

Over the past few months, the BDI has been weakening. Thus it represents a divergence in the thesis that economies are generally strengthening worldwide.

Another metric that may be worth watching...

1 comment:

dgeorge12358 said...

When the BDI decreases, every other consumer/producer in the global value chain wins. Since the BDI measures procurement costs, when these costs go down, producers benefit from increased margins, and consumers benefit from lower prices for finished products.
~Wikinvest