Baltic Index Dips on Weaker Rates for Bigger Vessels
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Thursday, hurt by lower rates for capesize and panamax vessels.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, slipped five points, or 0.7 percent to 710 points.
The capesize index was down 23 points, or about 2 percent at 1,137 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $120 to $9,050.
The panamax index fell 19 points or 2.7 percent, to 685 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, were down $154 at $5,464 on Thursday.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose five points to 578 points and the handysize index was up three points at 365 points.
(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru)
