Baltic Index Rises to Five-month High
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, on Tuesday rose to its highest in over five months on improved rates across vessel segments.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, gained 12 points, or 1.82 percent to 671 points.
While current earnings are barely covering direct vessel operating costs, rates are on the rise primarily due to stronger Chinese steel prices boosting seaborne iron ore trade, ship brokerage Clarksons Platou Securities said in a note on Tuesday.
Shipments of iron ore account for about a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes, and iron ore price changes are a key factor for dry freight.
The capesize index was up 35 points, or 3.4 percent, to 1,065 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, climbed $285 to $8,024.
The panamax index was up 6 points at 746 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $54 to $5,947 on Monday.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 5 points to 534 points, and the handysize index was up 6 points at 334 points.
(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru)
