The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) surged above the 800-point mark for the first time since October as a burst of iron ore chartering activity fuelled a rally in the capesize spot market.

The benchmark indicator jumped 12 points to 804 as the Baltic Exchange’s time-charter equivalent (TCE) estimate for capesize vessels increased by 4.7% to a new high for the year as iron ore charterers swarmed to the market.

“Capesize