Baltic Index Falls on Weaker Vessel Demand

Posted by Michelle Howard August 30, 2017

The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Wednesday due to weaker demand for larger vessels.

The overall index — which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels — was down 22 points, or 1.83 percent, at 1,181 points.

The capesize index fell 99 points, or 4.16 percent, to 2,282 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $752 at $17,026.

The panamax index was down 20 points, or 1.65 percent, at 1,195 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, fell $161 to $9,590.

Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 3 points to 851 points, while the handysize index rose 5 points to 482 points.

Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru