The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, fell to its lowest level in almost two weeks in London on speculation that demand is weakening.
Global trade will plunge 16 per cent this year before expanding 2.1 per cent in 2010, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Wednesday.
Iron ore is the biggest single dry-bulk commodity hauled at sea and China its largest user. Chinese imports fell 6.2 per cent last month.
'We expect the physical market to decline further this week on the back of lower activity and weaker freight market sentiment,' Rikard Vabo and Lars Erich Nilsen, analysts at Oslo-based Fearnley Fonds ASA, a specialist investment bank, said in a report.
The index dropped 123 points, or 3.2 per cent, to 3,751 points on the Baltic Exchange, the lowest since June 12.
Rents fell for all vessel classes, led by a 5.2 per cent slide for capesize ships to US$78,940 a day. Panamax vessels fell 2.7 per cent to US$23,571 a day. The transporters compete for cargoes of iron ore and coal.
The index quadrupled this year after plunging 92 per cent last year. Gains in the past month were 'driven mainly by renewed Chinese demand for raw materials,' said Braemar Shipping Services plc, the London-based shipbroker.
'Braemar has also benefited from a high level of sale and purchase activity especially for bulk carriers while the group's demolition business has continued to grow with increased scrapping of older ships, particularly in the container and tanker sectors,' the company said on Wednesday.
Capesize forward freight agreements for the third quarter, used to bet on or hedge against future shipping rates, fell to US$45,625 a day. Panamax FFAs for the third quarter were at US$18,250. The data are from broker Imarex NOS ASA.
The FFA market 'tells us there is a fair amount of caution about current levels and people I talk to are similarly cautious,' Jeremy Penn, chief executive of the Baltic Exchange, said in an interview in London on Wednesday.
Global trade will plunge 16 per cent this year before expanding 2.1 per cent in 2010, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Wednesday.
Iron ore is the biggest single dry-bulk commodity hauled at sea and China its largest user. Chinese imports fell 6.2 per cent last month.
'We expect the physical market to decline further this week on the back of lower activity and weaker freight market sentiment,' Rikard Vabo and Lars Erich Nilsen, analysts at Oslo-based Fearnley Fonds ASA, a specialist investment bank, said in a report.
The index dropped 123 points, or 3.2 per cent, to 3,751 points on the Baltic Exchange, the lowest since June 12.
Rents fell for all vessel classes, led by a 5.2 per cent slide for capesize ships to US$78,940 a day. Panamax vessels fell 2.7 per cent to US$23,571 a day. The transporters compete for cargoes of iron ore and coal.
The index quadrupled this year after plunging 92 per cent last year. Gains in the past month were 'driven mainly by renewed Chinese demand for raw materials,' said Braemar Shipping Services plc, the London-based shipbroker.
'Braemar has also benefited from a high level of sale and purchase activity especially for bulk carriers while the group's demolition business has continued to grow with increased scrapping of older ships, particularly in the container and tanker sectors,' the company said on Wednesday.
Capesize forward freight agreements for the third quarter, used to bet on or hedge against future shipping rates, fell to US$45,625 a day. Panamax FFAs for the third quarter were at US$18,250. The data are from broker Imarex NOS ASA.
The FFA market 'tells us there is a fair amount of caution about current levels and people I talk to are similarly cautious,' Jeremy Penn, chief executive of the Baltic Exchange, said in an interview in London on Wednesday.