The Baltic Exchange's dry bulk sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose for a fifth consecutive session on Friday, aided by firm capesize and panamax vessel rates.
The index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 43 points to 1,072 points.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $948 to $11,407.
Meanwhile, the most-traded May iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 2.18% lower at 764 yuan ($104.66) a ton, mainly dragged down by seasonally diminishing demand for the key steelmaking ingredient.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain cargo, rose $353 to $9,358.
(Reuters)