Baltic Dry Index Continues Downward Spiral

Baltic Dry Index 1-Year chart. Credit: Bloomberg

May 30 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell to a nearly three-month low on Tuesday, hurt by weaker rates across all vessel segments.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, fell 12 points, or 1.32 percent, to 900 points – its lowest since March 1.

The capesize index fell 27 points, or 1.7 percent, to 1,564 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $225 at $11,484.

The panamax index was down 3 points, or 0.36 percent, at 842 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $31 to $6,764.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index slipped 9 points to 712 points, and the handysize index was down 8 points at 461 points. (Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017.

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