The BDI had a score of 2,277 on Christmas Eve, yet fell for nine straight days once trading kicked off this year. Last night it was at 1,374, having edged up by just four points during yesterday’s trading.
Scores over 11,500 were printed in 2008, but the index collapsed after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, reflecting the global financial crisis.
A ban on ship-loading in Colombia imposed on mining firm Drummond has been blamed for some of the recent fall, but Rui Guo of Icap Shipping told City A.M. that this was “not the main driver” of the decline.
However, Guo played down wider fears. “This is partly seasonal,” Guo said. “After?Chinese New Year, I expect there’ll be a recovery.”