Baltic Dry Index Continues Freefall

Feb 1 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying industrial commodities, touched a new all-time low on Monday as concerns of weak global demand and vessel oversupply weighed on the sector.

The overall index, which gauges the cost of shipping dry bulk including iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, dipped three points or 0.96 percent to 314 points.

A slowdown in the Chinese economy, which grew at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century in 2015, and a huge over-capacity in vessels has meant the index has been hitting new all-time lows for most of 2016.

The capesize index rose four points or 1.86 percent to 215 points.

Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $21 to $2,806.

The panamax index dropped five points or 1.77 percent to a fresh record low of 282 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell $39 to $2,260. (Reporting by Harshith Aranya and Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.

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