Baltic Sea Freight Index Edges Higher

Posted by Joseph Keefe March 30, 2015

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, edged higher on Monday as rates rose for vessels across all segments.

The index, which factors in the average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, rose three points to 599 points.

The capesize index rose four points to 460 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose $11 to $4,301.

The panamax index gained three points to 600 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000-tonne cargoes of coal or grain, rose $23 to $4,801.

While the handysize index rose three points to 393 points, the supramax index was up two points at 649 points. Handysize and supramax are smaller vessels than capesize and panamaxes.

Rates for handysize vessels rose $51 to $5,831 while supramax rates were up $23 to $6,791.