Baltic Index Dips on Subdued Demand

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell on Friday, as a fall in capesize vessel rates on weak demand outweighed gains in the other vessel segments.

The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels ferrying dry bulk commodities, dropped 14 points, or 1.8%, to 754.

The index lost 0.5% this week, the sixth straight weekly loss.

The capesize index dropped 72 points, or 9.2%, to 712 - its lowest since late-April.

The index registered its 26th straight session of losses and declined 26% this week.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, fell $449 to $8,352.

Brazilian miner Vale halted operations at its Esperança mine, which has a capacity to process nearly 1.2 million tonnes of iron ore per year, for technical evaluation and carry out work to improve safety at the site.

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto reported a 3% slump in iron ore shipments in 2019 due to a cyclone and a fire at a port facility which disrupted operations.

The panamax index gained 11 points, or 1.3%, to 870.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, increased $103 to $7,830.

The supramax index inched up by a point to 560 points. 

(Reporting by Anjishnu Mondal in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)