Baltic Index Down On Large Vessel Rate Drop

Dry Bulk Vessel Discharging Cargo, Image (c) Karatzas Photographie Maritime

(Reuters) The Baltic Index, the Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Thursday on weaker capesize, panamax and supramax vessel rates.

 The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was down 14 points, or 2.06 percent, at 665 points.

The capesize index fell 23 points, or 2.86 percent, to 780 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $193 at $5,530.

The panamax index was down 33 points, or 4.39 percent, at 719 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $263 to $5,757.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index fell 8 points to 676 points, while the handysize index rose 4 points to 396 points.

Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D’Couto
© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

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