Baltic Index Weighed Down by Soft Capesize Activity
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, edged lower on Monday, hurt by softer capesize activity.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, closed down 15 points or 1.2 percent at 1,282 points.
The decline was the third straight daily fall for the index after hitting its highest level since November 2014 on Wednesday.
The index has so far risen nearly 35 percent this year, helped by improved shipping demand.
The capesize index lost 79 points, or 3.04 percent, to end at 2,518 points on Monday.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, dropped $605 to $18,259.
Disruption to coal exports from cyclone-hit Australia likely weighed on capesize markets.
The panamax index was up 5 points, or 0.4 percent, at 1,379 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $40 to $11,065.
The handysize index climbed 1 point to 541 points.
(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru)
