Baltic Index Down for 12th Session

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell for the 12th straight session on Monday, weighed down by falling demand across segments amid muted vessel activity in China due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels to ferry dry bulk commodities, fell 21 points, or 4.3%, to 466.

The capesize index fell 82 points to a negative 102.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, dropped $307 to $3,666.

China's iron ore and steel futures fell by their daily limits on Monday, with the key steelmaking raw material plunging the most in almost 15 months, on fears that a virus epidemic would curb demand and deliver a sharp blow to the economy.

The outbreak of the Wuhan virus had led to 361 deaths till Sunday with 17,205 confirmed cases in the country, China's National Health Commission reported.

The panamax index declined 28 points, or 4.9%, to 546.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, shed $253 to $4,910.

The supramax index dropped 3 points to 521.

(Reporting by Anjishnu Mondal in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)