Baltic index hits more than 3-m high

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index (BDI), an indicator of supply-demand fundamentals in global dry cargo markets, climbed to hit a more than three-month high of 2,419 points on March 18.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was up 45 points or 1.2% compared to March 15, mainly due to the rising rates of all vessel segments. For example, the capesize index swelled by 70 points or 1.74% from last Friday to reach 4,089 points on Monday. And the average