Baltic Index Up On Stronger Rates
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Friday due to higher demand for capesizes and gains across smaller vessel segments.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was up 18 points, or about 3 percent to 688 points.
The capesize index, rose 81 points, or about 8 percent to 1,085 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose $577 to $8,216.
Iron ore is on track to post its biggest weekly gain ever after a rapid rise that lifted it to its strongest since June 2015 as a rally in Chinese steel prices burnished appetite for the raw material.
Iron ore shipments account for around a third of seaborne volumes on the larger capesizes, and brokers said price developments remained a key factor for dry freight.
The supramax index was up 7 points at 558 points, and the handysize index rose 6 points to 354 points.
The panamax index fell seven points to 736 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell $53 to $5,868 on Friday.
(Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru)
