Baltic Index Hits 1-Month Low
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell to a one-month low on Tuesday as capesize rates extended their slide to a 11th straight session.
The overall index, which also factors in rates for panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was closed down 14 points, or 1.23 percent, at 1,122 points.
- The index fell for the seventh straight session and hit its lowest since Feb. 20.
- The capesize index lost 59 points, or 5.04 percent, to end at 1,112 points, its lowest since July 20, 2017.
- Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $374 to $8,956.
- Chinese iron ore prices fell further on Tuesday, a day after posting their biggest daily drop in almost 10 months as high inventories and a weak domestic steel market pressured prices.
- The panamax index finished down 6 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,615 points.
- Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, were down $45 to $12,968.
- The supramax index rose 10 points to end at 1,109 points.
Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengalura