Baltic Index Slides for 19th Session

by Harshith Aranya January 7, 2020

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell for the 19th straight session to an over eight-month low on lower demand across all vessel segments.

* The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, declined 53 points, or 6.3%, to 791 points, its lowest level since April 18, 2019.

* The capesize index fell 117 points, or 8.4%, to 1,271 - its lowest since May 9.

* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, decreased $761 to $9,022.

* The panamax index declined 45 points, or 5.1%, to 845 points, its lowest since March 14.

* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, dipped $404 to $7,609.

* The supramax index fell 31 points to 611.

(Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)