Baltic Dry Index Ends Dreadful Week Just Barely Up from New Bottom

Photo: Shutterstock/Lukasz Z

Dec 18 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Friday after reaching an all-time low on Wednesday.

The overall index rose 6 points, or 1.27 percent, to 477 points, helped by steady demand for bigger shipping vessels.

The index, which gauges the cost of shipping cargoes including iron ore, cement, grain and coal, and is seen by investors as an indicator of global industrial activity, touched an all-time low of 471 points on Wednesday and had remained flat on Thursday.

Chinese imports of coal and iron ore have remained weak in recent months and worries over the health of the global economy have also dented dry bulk shipping prospects.

The panamax index rose 5 points, or 1.19 percent, to 426 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $45 to $3,410.

The capesize index, remained unchanged at 524 points on Friday. However, average daily earnings for capesizes rose $182 to $5,190. Capesizes typically transport 150,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal.

Among smaller vessels, the handysize index dropped one point to 273 points, and the supramax index rose one point to 449. (Reporting by Koustav Samanta and Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru, editing by David Evans)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.

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