Baltic Index Falls for Fourth Straight Session

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell for the fourth straight session on Monday, pressured by weaker capesize vessel rates.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down 3 points, or 0.35 percent, at 848 points.

The capesize index lost 44 points, or 3.63 percent, at 1,169 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $372 to $8,798.

The panamax index was up 20 points, or 2.07 percent, at 984 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, increased $161 to $7,886.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 7 points to 708 points, while the handysize index rose 2 points to 437 points.


(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)