The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index inched down on Wednesday, ending eight consecutive sessions of gains, as lower earnings for capesize vessels offset higher rates across vessel segments.
* The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, fell seven points, or 0.4%, to 1,599 points.
* The capesize index gained 32 points, or 1%, to 3,382 points, logging its ninth consecutive session of gains.
* However, average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, declined $286 to $24,916.
* Shipments of steelmaking ingredient iron ore from Brazil stood at 6.0 million tonnes, down by 516,000 tonnes from a week earlier, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.
* The panamax index rose 11 points, or 0.8%, to 1,326 points.
* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, increased $95 to $10,627.
* The supramax index edged up three points to 828 points, registering its eleventh consecutive session of gains. (Reporting by Anjishnu Mondal in Bengaluru)
