Baltic Dry Index Ticks Up

The Baltic exchange's main sea freight index rose on Monday, buoyed by an uptick in capesize vessel rates.

The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose 12 points, or 0.4%, to 2,881.

The capesize index rose 28 points, or 0.7%, to 3,958.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes of coal and steel-making ingredient iron ore, increased by $232 to $32,825.

Asia's iron ore futures tumbled, leading another bout of selling in the metals complex, after China's state planner warned against commodity price manipulation and vowed to clamp down on speculative trading.

The panamax index fell 15 points, or 0.5%, to 2,840, declining for a second straight session.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, dropped by $135 to $25,558.

Seven ships, six of them large panamax vessels, loaded with farm products were moored at Argentina's export hub of Rosario during a strike by tugboat captains. After the strike, they were unable to embark as they had been loaded with more cargo than could be carried on the port's increasingly shallow waters.

The supramax index rose by 20 points to 2,428.

(Reporting by Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)