Baltic Index Inches Down on Softer Vessel Rates

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell for the fifth consecutive session on Friday, weighed down by weakness across capesize, panamax and supramax vessels and marked its worst week since late May.

* The overall index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, edged down 6 points, or 0.45 percent, to 1,341 points. It was down 7.2 percent for the week.

* The capesize index lost 27 points, or 1.3 percent, to end at 2,011 points.

* The index has been down over 9 percent for the week, the weakest since the week of May 25.

* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose by $33 to $16,492.

* The panamax index slipped 27 points, or nearly 2 percent, to 1,355 points.

* The index registered its biggest weekly fall since early April having declined 9.4 percent for the week.

* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $216 to $10,896.

* The supramax index was down two points at 1,092 points.

Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru