The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, inched higher on Thursday, helped by firmer rates for capesize and smaller vessels.

The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, was up 3 points or 0.25 percent at 1,184 points.

The capesize index gained 11 points or 0.48 percent to end at 2,293 points.

Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose $57 to $17,083.

The panamax index was down 6 points or 0.5 percent at 1,189 points.

Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, fell $52 to $9,538.

Among indexes tracking rates for smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 2 points to 853 points, while the handysize index climbed 4 points to 486 points.

Source: Reuters