The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, dipped to a more-than-16-month low on Thursday, hurt by falling rates across all vessel segments.
The index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, fell 51 points to 1,055 points, its lowest since late July 2023.
The capesize index dropped 125 points to 1,252 points, hitting its lowest level since Sept. 2023.
Average daily earnings for capesize vessels, which typically transport 150,000-ton cargoes such as iron ore and coal, decreased by $1,039 to $10,382.
Iron ore futures prices rebounded from the previous session’s losses on Thursday, as investors awaited clues on policy easing from a key economic meeting in top consumer China.
The panamax index fell 32 points to 1,021 points.
Average daily earnings for panamax vessels, which usually carry 60,000-70,000 tons of coal or grain cargo, fell $292 to $9,186.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index was down 1 point at 961 points.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
