Baltic Index Up for Eighth Straight Session

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, continued its rise on Friday, for an eighth consecutive session, on stronger demand across all vessel segments.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was up 17 points, or 2.58 percent, at 677 points.

The capesize index rose 34 points, or 3.41 percent, to 1,030 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $243 at $7,353.

The panamax index rose 29 points, or 4.38 percent, to 691 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $232 to $5,528.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 8 points to 627 points, while the handysize index rose 2 points to 344 points.

Reporting by Harshith Aranya