Green lentils. (Savany/iStock/Getty Images)

Expert’s Radar: Competition and retribution in view

Questions on export demand await wane of harvest pressures

Harvest operations are in their final stages across Western Canada, with all of that newly harvested grain looking for a home. Seasonal trends in grain markets weigh on most crops at this time of year as the supply/demand balance is flush with new supplies, but the long-range price direction will soon refocus on demand. Exports


File photo of a docked grain vessel at a Black Sea port in Turkey. (Bfk92/E+/Getty Images)

Bulk ocean freight rates recover off lows

Container rates remain in downtrend

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have shown some strength in late February, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) recovering off two-and-a-half-year lows hit earlier in the month. The BDI, a major indicator of bulk shipping rates, has risen for seven straight sessions to settle Monday at 935 points, up from the low of 530 points

A container terminal at the Port of Vancouver. (FangXiaNuo/E+/Canada)

Ocean freight rates falling

Baltic index at lowest since mid-2020

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates are under pressure to start 2023, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) dipping to its lowest level since June 2020 as poor demand for vessels weighed on values. A seasonal slowdown of cargo movement ahead of the Chinese New Year was seen as contributing to the latest softness, despite easing

A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Ocean freight rates under pressure

Container rates also lower

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have come under pressure over the past month, nearing their lowest levels of 2022 as mounting COVID-19 cases in China, along with increased restrictions in the country, have contributed to concerns over declining demand. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of bulk shipping rates, settled at 1,149 points


File photo of barley being loaded for export at the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, Ukraine on July 9, 2013. (Photo: Reuters/Vincent Mundy)

Baltic Dry Index at three-month lows

Demand for ocean freight seen backing off

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have come under pressure over the past month as demand for freight backs away, which could be seen as a sign of the slowing global economy. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which is a major indicator of shipping rates, settled at 2,081 points on Monday, up 14 points from Friday’s


File photo of the Port of Montreal. (Guy Banville/iStock/Getty Images)

Baltic Dry Index hits 12-year high

Canadian grain exports slow either way

MarketsFarm — Strong demand to move cargo coupled with weather-related shipping constraints in a number of key corridors has helped take ocean freight rates to their highest levels in more than a decade. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of shipping rates, settled Friday at 4,275 points, marking its highest level since November



Grain storage at a Russian seaport. (Pridannikov/iStock/Getty Images)

Baltic Dry Index tops 2,000 points

MarketsFarm — Ocean freight rates have moved steadily higher over the past month, nearing some of their highest levels of the past year. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of shipping rates, has moved higher most of the past month, settling above 2,000 points for the first time in five months on Tuesday,