If the global demand is weak, and exporting isn’t happening, what do ships have left to do?
Canada is starting to feel the effects of the global trade slowdown, with its exports going way down due to the weak global demand. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) “tracks changes in the cost of shipping bulk commodities such as metals, grains and crude oil by sea. The index falls when shippers aren’t shipping, and between May and December of 2008, the BDI crashed 94 per cent.” The Index this year has went down 55% due to the weak demand and the excess supply. Why is this happening?
Maybe it’s because of the business caution that people never took before. In the economic collapse of 2008, the BDI went down 94%. The BDI has already went down 55%, so it’s only natural that demand weakens and caution rises. Who wants to lose money?
We can’t turn to other countries for help, because their BDI indexes are down as well, signifying overall sluggish activity in the economy.
In a nutshell, the overall demand for trade is weak, and our dollar is strong. It makes exporting a whole lot more expensive for ourselves. What can we do?