baltic dry index down 20% in 5 days:, page-2

Boy, does that writer have a chip on his shoulder - lol.

But yes, the BDI is down. Pity the writer spends all his time complaining - yet he doesn't give much info on what is keeping the index from continuing to rise.

Never mind, there are good shipping sites around such as this excerpt from Hellenic Shipping News:

"According to Fearnley’s latest weekly report, for the panamax sector there are no clear signs of any recovery, but it “seems like the market has flattened out and found a bottom”. As for the capesize market, the broker said that “uncertainty prevails and focus on both sides is on covering spot positions. Activity is dominated by industrial bodies, the two Australian mining giants in particular - and levels for the WAust/China iron ore run have risen cosmetically to around usd 7.00 pmt. Atlantic levels are sliding marginally due to high supply of ballasters from Far East combined with paralysed transatlantic cargo flows - down some 5 pct”.
Amid this environment, more and more industry players and analysts are predicting the further stagnation of the market. In an interview this week, Fotini Karamanlis, CEO of London-listed Hellenic Carriers, said that dry bulk rates could remain under pressure until the middle of May. Demand for ore to make steel has weakened after carmakers and other users cut orders in the face of the global economic slowdown. Stockpiles of the metal in China, the biggest user, have risen 8.6 per cent this year."

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41479&Itemid=93