New demand for iron ore in China has driven the cost of shipping raw materials to a four year high, Bloomberg reported. The Baltic Dry Index, a benchmark of commodity shipping rates, jumped 9.3% to 1,478 on Monday, the biggest daily gain since June 2009, according to the Baltic Exchange. China’s imports of iron ore, the single-biggest source of demand for the vessels, expanded 8.1% to 526.7 million metric tons in the year to August compared with the same period a year earlier, customs data show. The increase is the result of strengthening steel output and prices in China.
Categories