Market intelligence

Dry Bulk Intelligence

Soft

Soft dry bulk shipping conditions

Current Dry Bulk conditions show freight soft, iron ore soft, coal soft, grain/oilseeds balanced, while tonne-mile balanced and fleet conditions firm.

Capesize$41,155/dayWeek 33 · 2026 Panamax / KamsarmaxBalancedWeek 33 · 2026 Supramax / UltramaxBalancedWeek 33 · 2026 HandysizeBalancedWeek 33 · 2026

Freight StrengthSoft

Iron Ore DemandSoft

Coal TradeSoft

Fleet TightnessFirm

Dry bulk freight momentum

Baltic class momentum index · 100 = neutral

Live source data

CapesizePanamax / KamsarmaxSupramax / UltramaxHandysize

Key market driver strength

Five headline Dry Bulk drivers

Dry Bulk Freight StrengthSoft

Iron Ore Demand / SupplySoft

Coal Trade Demand / SupplySoft

Grain / Oilseed TradeBalanced

Dry Bulk Tonne-mile DemandBalanced

Live market snapshot

Current connected indicators only

Capesize BCI 5TCW33 · 14 Aug 2026

$41,155/day-11.1%

Iron ore shipping pulse16 Aug 2026

92.5-7.5%

Coal shipping pulse16 Aug 2026

92.9-7.1%

Grain / oilseed pulse16 Aug 2026

95.4-4.6%

Tonne-mile shipping pulse16 Aug 2026

102.8+2.8%

Fleet & operational context

Current utilisation, activity and routing context

Tonne-mile demand102.816 Aug 2026 · +2.8%

Fleet tightness105.216 Aug 2026 · +5.2%

Port / chokepoint activity98.416 Aug 2026 · -1.6%

Routing riskBalanced20 Aug 2026

Why the market is soft

Freight: Soft

Baltic class direction defines the immediate owner and charterer balance.

Iron ore: Soft

China import demand and Australia/Brazil supply are the core Capesize cargo engine.

Tonne-mile: Balanced

Cargo tonnes multiplied by route distance show how much vessel demand the trade mix creates.

Coal: Soft

Coal flows provide an important second demand pillar, particularly for Panamax-class tonnage.

Slower-moving anchors

Monthly anchors & structural context

These slower official series sit below the weekly market layer. They anchor levels and structure but do not dominate the current weekly dashboard read.

China industrial demand

Official NBS monthly anchor · each metric retains its own reporting period

Monthly

Manufacturing PMI49.2July 2026

Crude steel83.670 MtJune 2026

Pig iron71.990 MtJune 2026

Rolled steel126.560 MtJune 2026

Cement144.230 MtJune 2026

China industrial demand is intentionally a monthly macro anchor; it does not block the weekly shipping pulse from updating.

Global steel & cargo context

Worldsteel and China Customs physical anchors

Structural

World steel155.700 MtJuly 2026

China steel83.700 MtJune 2026

India steel14.100 MtJune 2026

China iron ore108.085 MtJuly 2026

China coal42.728 MtJuly 2026China soybeans11.477 MtJuly 2026

These monthly anchors provide official physical levels. The headline cargo and tonne-mile drivers above continue to move from current shipping activity.

Full intelligence

Market drivers

A concise explanation of what is currently shaping each Dry Bulk driver.

Dry Bulk Freight StrengthSoft

Baltic class direction is softer, keeping immediate freight pressure on owners.

Iron Ore Demand / SupplySoft

Iron-ore demand/supply evidence is soft and is reducing support for Capesize employment.

Coal Trade Demand / SupplySoft

Coal trade is softening and reducing cargo support.

Grain / Oilseed TradeBalanced

Grain and oilseed trade is softer and provides less Panamax/Supramax support.

China Industrial DemandBalanced

China industrial indicators are soft, limiting underlying raw-material demand.

Global Steel Demand ContextBalanced

Global steel production context is broadly balanced.

Dry Bulk Tonne-mile DemandBalanced

Selected-cargo tonne-mile demand is strengthening and absorbing more vessel-days.

Vessel Availability / Fleet TightnessFirm

Cargo demand is outrunning observed vessel activity, indicating a tighter effective balance.

Risk / Routing / DisruptionBalanced

Shared routing monitors are healthy with no material directional disruption active.

Port / Chokepoint ActivityBalanced

Dry-bulk port/chokepoint activity is softer versus its comparison period.

Research access

Reports & Sources

Weekly Dry Bulk Market Intelligence will use the same deterministic market state as this dashboard.

Latest Dry Bulk Report

Four-page weekly Dry Bulk Market Intelligence in the locked ViewShipping report format.

Open latest Dry Bulk report →

Report Archive

Dry Bulk reports will be stored in the central ViewShipping Reports Archive under the Dry Bulk market filter.

Open report archive →

Sources

Baltic freight, China Customs, NBS, World Steel, USDA/ABS/Comtrade and IMF PortWatch remain distinct evidence channels.

How our data is built ↓

Source coverage

How the Dry Bulk read is built

Baltic Exchange provides exact public Capesize 5TC observations and class direction; China Customs/GACC provides major dry-bulk import demand; China NBS and World Steel Association provide industrial demand; USDA, ABS and monthly trade datasets provide physical anchors; IMF PortWatch regional dry-bulk activity provides weekly cargo-shipping pulses; IMF PortWatch and shared ViewShipping routing monitors provide operational activity and disruption evidence. Stale observations retain their real dates but cannot inflate the live score.