Baltic Index Down for Fifth Straight Session

Posted by Michelle Howard April 4, 2018

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Wednesday for a fifth consecutive session weighed by falling rates across vessel segments.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, was down 39 points, at 977 points, its lowest since Aug. 1.

The index fell 3.8 percent during the session, its biggest one day percentage dip since mid-January

The capesize index lost 83 points, or 8.983 percent, at 841 points, its lowest since July 11, 2017

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $536 to $7,211.

The panamax index was down 58 points, or 3.986 percent, at 1,397 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $465 to $11,233.

The supramax index fell 11 points to 1,056 points.

Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru