Muted Capesize Activity Weighs on Baltic Index

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell for the sixth straight session on Tuesday, dragged down by lower demand for capesize vessels.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was down 40 points, or 3.2 percent, at 1,199 points.

The capesize index lost 103 points, or 5.3 percent, at 1,854 points.

"Capesize average earnings declined to about $13,900 per day due to reduced inquiries on Brazil or China voyages while most of Europe began the week with a religious holiday," analysts at ship broker Clarksons Platou Securities wrote in a note.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $966 at $13,867.

The panamax index was down four points, or 0.3 percent, at 1,239 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $31 to $9,987.

The supramax index rose three points to 1,074 points.

(Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru)