Baltic Dry Index Up for Twelfth Straight Session as Capesize Rates Soar

April 11 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Monday for the twelfth consecutive session, supported primarily by stronger demand for capesize vessels.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, rose 16 points or about 3 percent to 555 points.

The capesize index swelled 77 points, or about 12 percent, to 733 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose $444 to $5,533.

The panamax index rose 11 points to 654 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $85 to $5,216.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index was up seven points to 492 points, while the handysize index was up two points to 288 points (Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.

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