Baltic Dry Index Sails Past 4,000

Aug 20 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index rose to a more than 11-year peak on Friday on solid demand for all vessels, with capesize rates scaling their highest since mid-2009.

* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, rose 116 points, or about 3%, to its highest since mid-2010 at 4,092.

* The main index also registered a 14.8% gain for the week, its best since the one ending on June 11.

* Shipping analysts have cited an overall rebound in commodities demand and shipping constraints, especially in China, as having contributed to the recent rally in the dry bulk sector.

* The capesize index also advanced 5% to a more than 11-year high at 5,997 points, marking a fifth straight weekly gain, up 25.8%.

* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose by $2,370 to $49,731.

* Meanwhile, Dalian iron ore eked out a small gain on Friday but marked its fifth consecutive weekly decline as market unease grew over demand prospects in top steel producer China.

* The panamax index advanced 31 points, or 0.8%, to its highest in more than a month at 3,785. The index rose 6.1% this week.

* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, increased by $281 to $34,063.

* Among smaller vessels, the supramax index added 39 points to 3,276, an all-time high as per Refinitiv Eikon data available since 2017. (Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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