Feb 17 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index rose to a near two-week high on Monday, registering its biggest daily advance in more than two months as rates rose across all vessel segments.
* The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, gained 9 points, or 2.1%, to 434.
* The main index recorded its biggest one-day percentage gain since early December.
* The capesize index gained 7 points, but remained at negative 287 as coronavirus worries continued to weigh.
* Shipping demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy, has been impacted after the coronavirus outbreak forced the government to shut factories and mills.
* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000 to 180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, rose $46 to $2,491.
* The panamax index rose 21 points, or 3.3%, to 657, its highest since Jan. 27.
* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, increased $193 to $5,917.
* The supramax index rose 4 points to 474. (Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru Editing by David Holmes)
