Baltic Index at 4-week Peak on Broad Support

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index rose to its highest in more than four weeks on Thursday, lifted by strong demand across all vessel segments.

The Baltic index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, gained 57 points, or 2.8%, to 2,118, its highest in a month.

The capesize index jumped 158 points, or 4.3%, to 3,829, its highest since July 23. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000 tonne-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose $1,059 to $29,490. "The Brazil to China route is now showing signs of improvement. All in all the sentiment is positive and the capesize segment is confident and well supported," shipbroker Fearnleys said in a note on Wednesday.

The panamax index rose 18 points, or 0.8%, to 2,181, its highest since July 24. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, rose $147 to $17,456.

The supramax index gained 32 points to 1,220, its highest in nearly six years.

Reporting by Shreyansi Singh