Baltic Index Posts Weekly Gain

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index inched up on Friday helped by an uptick in panamax and supramax rates, and posted its first weekly gain in three due to robust capesize rates.

The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, was up by 2 points at 1,296 points.

The index rose 2.3% this week.

The capesize index fell 14 points, or 0.7%, to 1,900 points, even as it gained 3.3% for the week.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $114 at $15,761.

The panamax index rose 10 points, or 0.8%, to 1,315 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $87 to $11,835.

The supramax index rose 11 points to 941.

(Reporting by Nakul Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)