The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose to its highest since late October on Wednesday as capesize rates extended gains to a tenth consecutive session.
The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, gained 32 points, or 2.4%, to 1,362, a peak since Oct. 28.
The capesize index rose 114 points, or 6.1%, to 1,979, reaching its highest in eight weeks.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, added $940 to touch $16,409.
The panamax index fell 19 points, or 1.4%, to 1,333, a trough since Dec. 7.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, were down $168 to $12,001.
The supramax index edged down one point to 1,047.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)