Shipping News

Firstly, what is The Harpex and Baltic Dry Index?

The container ship index of ship brokers Harper Petersen & Co. The HARPEX Shipping Index tracks weekly container shipping rate changes in the time charter market for eight classes of all-container ships. The index was compiled in 2004, but by using a database of 10,000 records, can be calculated retrospectively back to 1986.

The HARPEX index is considered a suitable indicator of global economic activity since it tracks changes in freight rates for container ships over broad categories. This index is slightly different than the better-known Baltic Dry Index that tracks freight costs for dry bulk ships that usually carry bulk cargoes and raw materials such as coal, ore and grain. 

In summary, Harpex tracks finished goods and general cargo (container ships, car carriers etc) whilst the Baltic Dry Index tracks bulk carriers (grain, ores etc).

Baltic is way down from the pre depression years leading up to 2008 but staying relatively flat with a slight uptick.

But hows this Harpex? Its fallen off a cliff. Its down 66% from its 2007 highs and in the short term its halved in value in 6 months. Global commerce in finished goods is heading to the basement.

Who needs trade when you have government bribing/spending (after borrowing first) to make economic numbers look good.

Refs:
Baltic Dry
Harpex