Maritime transport in the dry bulk market makes up roughly a fifth of the international merchant ship fleet. Bulk carrier vessels, or bulkers, that transport raw materials including grain, iron ore and coal represent a key part of world trade for more than a century. Asia tops the list of leading growth regions for import of raw materials to developing countries with China as leading economic driver.

China continues to shift the centre of gravity for global bulk trade from the western hemisphere to the eastern one. While dry bulk freights in the early 2000s jumped to record historical levels amid the combination of vibrant economic growth and a general tonnage shortfall, the market has once again become normalized following the world financial crisis.

The dry bulk market develops essentially in parallel to the global economy, including the rise of China and the recent collapse of global financial markets. As such, the bulker market since 2000 has played a role as window into the global economy at large. Publications such as BMTI's Anatomy of a Shipping Crisis deliver a closely reported chronicle of this market and its developments in detail.