TIANJIN -- The China Tianjin Bulk Freight Index (TBI), an indicator of northern China's international bulk freight rates, stood at 522.03 points on Tuesday, down 1.57 percent compared with the previous working day.

The statistical samples of TBI cover eight international bulk shipping routes arriving at the ports of Tianjin, Qingdao and Caofeidian.

As a sub-index of the Tianjin Shipping Index, TBI is published on working days and was first published in September 2010. It is issued by the Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Service Center in northern China's Tianjin municipality.