The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index gained on Friday, but booked its first weekly loss in three as capesize vessel rates dropped.
The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, climbed by 8 points or 0.7%, to 1,197. The index weakened 2.7% this week.
The capesize index was up 40 points, or 2.7%, at 1,520, but declined by 0.8% for the week.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, dropped $332 to $12,606.
Dalian iron ore hit a record high on Friday and posted its fifth straight weekly gain, boosted by top consumer China’s robust demand for the steelmaking ingredient and supply concerns, while prices in Singapore surged more than 6%.
The panamax index was down by 14 points, or 1%, at 1,331, dropping 7% for the week – its biggest drop since early November.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, were down $121 at $11,983.
The supramax index lost 4 points to 1,011.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Bharat Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
