The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index inched down on Tuesday, snapping a 27-session winning streak, as capesize vessel rates fell for the second straight session and offset gains in panamax and supramax segments.
The Baltic dry index, which tracks rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities and reflects rates for capesize, panamax and supramax vessels, fell 7 points, or 0.4%, to 1,949.
The Baltic capesize index lost 103 points, or 2.5%, to 3,968, hitting its lowest since June 22.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport cargoes of 170,000 tonnes to 180,000 tonnes, including iron ore and coal, fell by $849 to $32,911.
However, rising demand for iron ore from China, after the economy opened up from months of virus-led lockdown, has helped the capesize index gain 109% so far this year.
The panamax index rose 5.9%, or 81 points, to 1,457.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, increased by $726 to $13,113.
The supramax index rose 17 points to 725.
(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)