Collapse in shipping costs may be significant after all

The wider significance of the 25-year low recorded in the Baltic Dry Index – a composite of global freight costs for dry bulk commodities such as iron ore, coal and grains – has generally been downplayed as the slump is largely a reflection of the recent surge in the supply of cargo ships. Nonetheless, it would be wrong to dismiss entirely the warning signals that the sinking of the Baltic index may be sending about the underlying demand for commodities and the health of the world economy more generally.