Baltic Dry Index Posts Best Day in a Month

The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index rose for a fourth straight session on Wednesday to mark its biggest one-day percentage gain in a month, supported by stronger demand for capesize vessels.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels carrying dry bulk commodities, rose 37 points, or about 2.7%, to 1,393, the highest level since Oct. 31.

The capesize index rose 144 points, or about 9.7%, to 1,637, the highest level since Oct. 28.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore, were up $1,199 at $13,578.

Iron ore futures rose on Wednesday, with the Dalian benchmark contract hitting a two-week high, as a looming bond financing support for property developers in China added fuel to the steelmaking ingredient's sentiment-driven rebound.

"Looking forward, a demand revival from China could provide some support to the bigger sizes, yet a strong positive correction should not be expected given the current global economic slowdown," ship broker Intermodal said in a weekly note dated Tuesday.

The panamax index lost 28 points, or about 1.7%, to a two-month trough at 1,641.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $257 to $14,767.

The supramax index shed 9 points to 1,232, the lowest since February 2021.

(Reuters - Reporting by Kavya Guduru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)