Baltic Index Slows Slide

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index inched down on Wednesday, falling for its 21st straight session, to an over eight-month low on lower demand across all vessels.

The Baltic index, which tracks rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels that ferry dry bulk commodities, declined 1 point, or 0.1%, to 772 points, its lowest level since April 17, 2019.

This is the smallest daily percentage fall since the index started its slide on Dec. 4.

The capesize index fell 42 points, or 3.5%, to 1,155 - its lowest since May 7.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes including iron ore and coal, increased $179 to $9,199.

The panamax index declined 18 points, or 2.2%, to 785 points, its lowest since Feb. 27.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, dipped $160 to $7,063.

The supramax index fell 12 points to 581.

(Reporting by Harshith Aranya in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)