Dry-bulk shipping executives see broad-based commodity demand, not just China's ongoing need for iron and coal, as helping improve freight rates across the industry.

Second-hand prices are improving, and that's driving up the risk for a new round of newbuild ordering.

During a panel at the Capital Link International Shipping Forum in New York, Scorpio Bulkers president Robet Bugbee said the dry bulk industry has gone from "awful to really awful to not as bad" as commodity demand showed more strength than was predicted.

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