Baltic Index Rises on Stronger Capesize Rates
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Thursday supported by robust demand for capesize vessels.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, increased 16 points, or 1.69 percent, to 964 points.
The capesize index jumped 65 points, or 6.32 percent, to 1,093 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased $363 to $8,774.
The dry bulk market has seen a slow but steady improvement in the physical market continue through the week with capesize earnings ticking up to about $8,800 per day on average worldwide as the Far East market remains active, Clarksons Platou Securities analysts said in a client note.
The panamax index was up 8 points, or 0.64 percent, at 1,260 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose by $65 to $10,093.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index climbed 9 points to 807 points, while the handysize index was up 2 points at 497 points.
Reporting by Eileen Soreng
