Baltic Dry Index Snaps 13-Session Losing Streak

May 8 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, edged up on Monday to snap a 13-session losing streak, supported by firmer demand for capesize vessels.

The overall index — which considers rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels — was up 7 points or 0.7 percent, to 1,001 points.

The capesize index rose 91 points, or 6.15 percent, the biggest one-day percentage gain since mid-March, to 1,571 points.

“… The capesize segment (is) seeing gains in both the physical and paper markets driven by some renewed strength in Pacific activity levels,” Clarksons Platou Securities analysts said in a note.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were up $583 to $12,082.

The panamax index was down 14 points, or 1.37 percent, at 1,009 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $113 to $8,112.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index was down 12 points at 799 points, while the handysize index fell six points to 517 points. (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017.

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