Freight
Updated
What it is
Freight markets price the cost of shipping goods by sea. Dry bulk freight (coal, iron ore, grain) is tracked by the Baltic Exchange's Baltic Dry Index, while tanker freight for crude oil and gas is quoted as a day rate for vessels such as Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). Rates rise when vessel supply tightens relative to cargo demand, including when a chokepoint like the Strait of Hormuz becomes unsafe or unusable.
Why it matters lately
The 2026 Iran war split freight markets apart: Middle East-to-Asia VLCC crude tanker rates hit an all-time high of $423,736 per day in March 2026 after Iran's March 2 closure of the Strait of Hormuz trapped loaded tankers in the Gulf. Dry bulk freight moved separately, with the Baltic Dry Index climbing to 3,628 points on September 4, 2026, its highest level since November 2021.
Asymmetric Analytics view
Inference (AA): Freight is the graph's gauge of physical shipping stress from the Iran war, linking Hormuz disruption to energy, fertilizer and broader goods-price pass-through.