Polish sea ports' transshipment rates have increased significantly in the first half of 2010, at a time when global shipping levels have dropped alarmingly.

Polish ports handled up to one third more freight in H1 of 2010 than they did in the corresponding period last year and operators are hoping that the rebound will allow them to at least partially recoup losses suffered in H1 2009, at the height of the global economic crisis. Last year transshipment levels dropped 7.3 percent in Polish ports.

“I am a moderate optimist, but what we observe in the ports indicates that the economy has entered a path of development,” Rzeczpospolita quoted Yarosław Sergiej, president of the company which manages the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście, as saying.

Szczecin-Świnoujście has seen a 36.6 percent y/y increase of goods handled, while the port of Gdynia has seen an increase of 13 percent. Both exceeded port operators' expectations, although Gdynia port officials say the level is still not sufficient to overturn losses made last year.

While Polish port operators have reason enough for optimism, the global situation is altogether more sobering. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which measures seaborne freight rates, has plummeted by more than half since May due to decreased demand for raw materials from China.

Economic analysts often use the BDI as a barometer for global trade trends, and many say its recent rumblings could foreshadow a global recession.