The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, fell on Thursday, dragged down by losses across all vessel segments.
The index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, dipped 40 points to 1,576 points.
The capesize index lost 86 points to 2,724 points.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased by $712 to $22,595.
Iron ore futures climbed as investors and traders weighed firm near-term demand against high portside stocks, while awaiting new clues on the consumption outlook for top consumer China.
The panamax index lost 32 points to 1,106 points.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain cargo, shed $291 to $9,951.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index lost 5 points to 987 points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)
