Commodity markets would not function without the shipping industry. Shipping is a huge, complex, sophisticated and fascinating market which has its own economy, dynamics and balances. The Baltic Dry is a highly monitored and particularly popular index among market participants in both commodities and shipping industries as it provides a good approximation about the shipping activity around the world. A strong Baltic Dry index also implies that the global trade is robust and that demand for commodities is healthy. The Baltic Dry Index is the average of four different indeces: Baltic Capesize Index, Baltic Panamax Index, Baltic Supramax Index and Baltic Handysize Index. Each index tracks the health of the demand for capemax, panamax, supramax and handysize ships. In the current research we will examine how the index is calculated, how it moves and how it correlates to other asset classes. This research was published on the Medium platform a few years ago but it is still valid today. Please click here to read the rest of the research.