The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index fell for the seventh straight session on Tuesday, due to lower rates across vessel segments.
The overall index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell 10 points, or 0.75 percent, to 1,323 points.
The capesize index fell 15 points, or 0.75 percent, to end at 1,986 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, fell by $88 to $16,342.
The panamax index dropped 18 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,321 points. "Things seemed to be more so difficult (for panamax vessels) in the Atlantic basin despite the good level of fresh cargoes being seen out of East Coast of South America," George Lazaridis, an analyst with Allied Shipbroking in Greece wrote in a note. "It looks as though the level of open vessels will continue to take its toll on the market, though with some support being seen in both Atlantic and Pacific basins." Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $149 to $10,623.
The supramax index was down seven points at 1,078 points.
Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman