Baltic Panamax Index (BPI)

What is the Baltic Panamax Index?

The Baltic Panamax Index (BPI) is a daily freight benchmark published by the Baltic Exchange. Its Panamax timecharter route assessments use a standard 82,500 dwt dry-bulk vessel. The index is an assessed market reference, not an intraday traded price. Check the source observation date beside the value before using it in a report or model.

How does the Panamax index differ from the Baltic Dry Index?

The BPI follows the Panamax vessel class. The Baltic Dry Index blends Capesize, Panamax and Supramax timecharter averages, so it can move for reasons outside the Panamax market. Compare the BPI with the BDI when you need to tell whether a move in the dry-bulk composite is shared by mid-size ships.

How often is the BPI updated?

The Baltic Exchange publishes the Panamax benchmark on London business days. OilPriceAPI shows the source observation date and a freshness state with each available value. A collection timestamp does not turn an older assessment into a new publication; if the source is delayed, this page labels the quote stale and does not put its value in the search title.

Who uses the BPI?

• Grain and dry-bulk traders comparing Panamax freight with cargo prices
• Shipowners and charterers tracking mid-size vessel earnings
• Analysts separating Panamax moves from the composite Baltic Dry Index

How do I get Baltic Panamax Index data via API?

Request the latest BPI value from the OilPriceAPI REST endpoint using the code BALTIC_PANAMAX_INDEX. Sign up for a free API key, then call:

curl "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/latest?by_code=BALTIC_PANAMAX_INDEX" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY"

The response is JSON with the latest available value, currency/unit and publication timestamp. Poll on the index's publish cadence — every london business day (daily) — rather than every minute.

Is Baltic Panamax Index data available as CSV?

Yes. Every price endpoint accepts format=csv and responds with the content type text/csv and a header row, instead of JSON. Same request, same publish cadence — one extra parameter:

curl "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/prices/latest?by_code=BALTIC_PANAMAX_INDEX&format=csv" \
  -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY"

You can confirm the format before signing up. This demo request needs no API key and returns real CSV:

curl "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/demo/prices?format=csv"

It answers with the content type text/csv and a header row, followed by one row per series. Use it to confirm that CSV is real before you sign up — but build your parser against the price endpoint, not against the demo: the two return different columns. The demo set also covers oil benchmarks only and does not include the freight indices.

code,name,price,currency,updated_at,change_24h,source

price,formatted,currency,code,created_at,updated_at,type,unit,source,as_of,collected_at,synthetic,stale,age_days

Check as_of for the source publication time and stale before relying on a value; collected_at records collection time. There is no name or change_24h column. Both header rows above were taken from live responses on 2026-08-21; treat column order as stable but read by name, not by index.

When the BPI is not the right data