The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, extended gains on Wednesday, helped by an uptick across all vessel segments led by a jump in the larger capesize segment.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels, was up 187 points, or about 13.3%, its largest gain in over seven months, at 1,595.
The capesize index gained 486 points, or about 45%, to hit its highest in over a month at 1,565.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredient iron-ore used in construction, rose by $4,025 to $12,977.
The panamax index was up 71 points, or about 3.4%, at 2,145, hitting its highest in over two months.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, gained $643 at $19,309.
The supramax index rose for second consecutive session after snapping 12-day falling streak, gaining 21 points to 1,505.
Meanwhile, “limited mineral trade remains the weak spot in dry bulk market activity,” ship broker Intermodal said in a weekly note dated Tuesday.
(Reuters – Reporting by Harshit Verma; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
