Baltic Index Inches Down on Capesize, Panamax Rates
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, edged down on Tuesday on lower rates across larger vessel segments.
The overall index — which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels — was down 6 points, or 0.5 percent, at 1,203 points.
The capesize index fell 25 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,381 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $140 to $17,778.
The panamax index was down 20 points, or 1.62 percent, at 1,215 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $157 to $9,751.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 3 points to 848 points, while the handysize index also rose 3 points to 477 points.
Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman
