Waning Demand Across All Sectors Drags on Baltic Index

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell for a ninth straight session on Wednesday to a two-week low, hurt by weaker demand across vessel segments.

The Baltic index, which reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell 27 points, or 1.5%, to 1,779, its lowest in over two weeks.

The capesize index slipped 71 points, or 2.4%, to 2,873, its lowest in more than three months. The average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell $463 to $23,740.

The panamax index dropped 25 points, or 1.4%, to 1,770. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonne to 70,000 tonne, fell $194 to $14,194.

The supramax index edged 7 points lower to 1,210.

Reporting by Shreyansi Singh