As SA mineral bulk exporters are sadly aware, the low global demand for commodities – particularly in China – is causing grief to both exporters and the bulkers looking for business.
An indicator of the sorrow for shipping lines is the Baltic Exchange’s index - which tracks rates for ships carrying industrial commodities - hitting a record low on Wednesday. The index, which gauges the cost of shipping dry bulk (including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser), fell 2.32% to close at 337 points.
Add to that the fact that it has yet to register a single session of gains in 2016, and you can see what a hammering dry bulk carriers are facing in a scenario of a major slowdown in global demand and massive overcapacity supply in the vessel fleet.
