The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, marginally declined on Wednesday on weaker demand for capesize vessels.
Baltic index falls marginally on lower capesize demand The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, marginally declined on Wednesday on weaker demand for capesize vessels. The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down one point, or 0.16 percent, at 642 points. The capesize index lost 34 points, or about 3.44 percent, to 954 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $62 to $7,729. The panamax index was up seven points, or 1.16 percent, to 611 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $59 to $4,885. Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose one point to 553 points, while the handysize index fell three points to 342 points.
