The Baltic Dry Index and performance excellence in a crisis environment

摘要

This paper focuses on an approach to analyzing the relationship between the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) as the main indicator of the cyclical nature of the maritime market and the performance excellence of the representative shipping companies. Results have shown that there is a strong positive correlation between average annual BDI values and performance excellence indicators measured by the traditional adjusted Altman Z-score as well as the recent indicator, the Bex Index. BDI as the most comprehensive indicator of global demand for commodities and raw materials is also analyzed as a supply and demand signal on the stock market. The aim was to test the hypothesis that BDI also functions as a signal that promptly responds to crisis effects. The methodological procedure has been carried out using a real database spanning from 1985 to 2013 where the results have confirmed the hypothesis.