Baltic Dry Index hits Near Four-week Peak

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose to a near four-week high on Wednesday, supported by strong demand for capesize vessels.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 60 points, or about 5.6%, to 1,138, its highest since May 26.

The capesize index jumped 190 points, or 12.3%, to 1,730.

Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes carrying commodities such as iron ore and coal, increased by $1,581 to $14,350.

The panamax index slipped 17 points, or about 1.5%, to 1,157.

Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased by $151 to $10,417.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index edged two points higher to 761.

(Reuters - Reporting by Brijesh Patel; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)