The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, rose for the fourth straight session to touch a one-month high on Friday, boosted by strong demand for capesize vessels.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 33 points, or 2.5 percent, to 1,372 points, a peak level since Nov. 6.
The capesize index surged 5.6 percent, or 117 points, to 2,197 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000 tonne-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, increased by $828 to $17,219.
The panamax index eased 4 points to 1,469 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, declined by $29 to $11,748.
The supramax index edged up 2 points to 953 points.
Reporting by Brijesh Patel