The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index extended its decline, reaching its lowest in more than six months on Thursday, pressured by weaker demand across all vessel segments.
The index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, dipped 82 points to 1,594 points and hit its lowest since April.
The capesize index dropped 230 points to 2,322 points, hitting its lowest since early August.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased $1,902 to $19,259.
“The Baltic Dry Index declined by 119 points last week, driven primarily by the Capesize market’s downturn… despite a promising start for Panamax owners, much of the initial gains were gradually eroded,” Yiannis Parganas, director of Intermodal Shipbrokers said in a weekly note.
“In Asia, some strength was observed, supported by North Pacific grain and Indonesian coal Panamax stems, but the high number of available vessels limited any significant rate increases.”
The panamax index eased 21 points to 1,288 points.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain cargo, fell by $194 to $11,591.
Dalian iron ore futures tumbled on Thursday to their lowest in more than two weeks, weighed down by a lack of fresh stimulus from a key policy briefing in top consumer China, while higher supplies from mining heavyweights also pressured the market.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index shed 3 points to 1,254.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
