Baltic Dry Index - BDI

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is known around the world as the go-to place for dry bulk shipping stock information, as well as being an indicator of the status of the general shipping market. It has nothing to do with cheap real estate in Monopoly.

The index measures the demand for shipping (cargo) versus the supply of carriers (cargo ships). Cargo ships are comprised of different sized carriers referred to as Capesize, Panamax, and Supramax (large, medium, and small cargo ships, in that order).

The demand for shipping varies seasonally and socioeconomically, but the supply of cargo ships is consistent, or at best, slow to increase. It takes a while to build a cargo ship.

Furthermore, the contents of the cargo (raw materials) can be indicative of the demand for certain finished products. In that sense, the BDI can be viewed as an economic indicator of future economic growth and production based on the shipping information (how many ships of what size carrying what raw materials to where and how often).

Why is it dry? No booze? No. The index comprises the shipping of non-liquid energy and food commodity things like coal and grain and ore.