Baltic Dry Index Rises on Higher Capesize Rates

Sept 12 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Monday as rates for larger vessel segments increased.

* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax shipping vessels, was up for the fourth consecutive session, gaining 43 points, or about 3.5%, at 1,256.

* Market conditions are expected to improve for the rest of 2022 and further in 2023 as the EU’s ban on Russian coal will add tonne miles, as Russian coal is likely to be replaced by imports from U.S., Australia, Colombia and South Africa, BIMCO said in a quarterly note.

* “Barring any significant adverse rest-of-year impacts from a slowing global economy, we estimate that volume growth in 2022 will end in the 1-2% range and estimate growth of 2-3% in 2023,” added BIMCO.

* The capesize index gained 84 points, or 12.5%, at 756, marking its best day in a week.

* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as coal and steel-making ingredient iron-ore used in construction, were up by $696 to $6,270.

* The panamax index was up for the eighth consecutive session, gaining 57 points, or 3.06 %, at 1,922, a one month-high.

* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, were up $516 at $17,302.

* The supramax index, which has not seen a single session of gains since Aug. 24, lost two points to 1,473.

(Reporting by Harshit Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)