Baltic Index Drops

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Wednesday, hurt by weak demand for capesize vessels.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was down 65 points, or 4.4 percent, at 1,403 points, registering its highest percentage fall since Jan. 17.

The capesize index lost 195 points, or 7.5 percent, at 2,407 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $1,645 to $19,001.

The panamax index was flat at 1,237 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $6 to $9,977.

The supramax index rose three points to 1,056 points.

Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru