Baltic Index up on Higher Rates for Bigger Vessels
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities inched up on increased rates for bigger vessel segments.
The index, which factors in average daily earnings of capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize dry bulk transport vessels, was up 5 points at 586 points.
The capesize index gained 24 points or 5.11 percent to 494 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose $196 to $4,487.
The panamax index was up 7 points at 626 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry 60,000 to 70,000-tonne cargoes of coal or grain, rose $59 to $4,997.
The handysize index was down four points at 362 points while the supramax index was flat at 608 points.
(Reporting by Kevin Jose in Bengaluru, editing by David Evans)
